In Spring's Garden
by snowflakes and ink
Summary: Erik was left heartbroken after the departure of Christine and the Vicompte, but will a 14 years old girl able to change his mind? Will the sleeping bud burst into bloom?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 (revealing the past)

She has always being known as a very quiet teenager, unusually quiet for her age, maybe there is a reason behind this, maybe there's not, for no one knew. Only her not even her parents, only her, not even her friends, only her. No one paid her much attention, no one put her in mind, as if she was just a piece of transparent glass which seemed oddly extra in a world like that, just yesterday, a squirrel ran over her leg. Maybe she has a thought in mind, a strange one, and a thirst for something which had being bugging her since she knew how to talk. A brother, just the word "brother" is strange to her, she has never, in fact seen any one without an elder brother before in her life, not little girls with ponytails dancing in the wind and their brothers, handsome as ever leaning on a bark of tree smiling at them, no one, as she could recall, born in Paris would NOT have a brother. She would give anything, just to get a brother, someone who would protect her in life as she grows, someone who would give her advises as she proceeds on the way to the murderous world. No, just her, alone.

She was, as usual, taking a walk in the 1870 year, in a park in Paris, with cold wind blowing in her face, as a warning that winter is coming. No chirps of birds, not like spring. Spring, something which she misses so much since the last, with bright green grass dotting on the neatly trimmed pathment, with new shoots emerging from the thin layer of snow, and new year's breeze stroking her face, not like winter, with huge balls of snow raining down from the sky above, gales and snowstorms were common.

As she trudged along, she did not at all noticed a woman in black looking at her, with a thick veil over her head, she did not seemed human at all, as she leaned carelessly on a lamppost, all the while looking at the girl. Victory is just ahead, she thought to herself. The girl just walked on, not at all noticing the now growing tension of the woman, who suddenly dashed across the road and came to her side.

"Lavender Froney?" the woman asked.

"Yes, I am", the girl replied.

"I need to talk to you, it is regarding your family", the woman continued.

Lavender just gasped, "wait a minute, how do you know my name?"

"It's a long story dear, but sad, unfortunately."

Raising her eyes, Lavender took the first glimpse at the woman's face; she had removed her veil, and revealed her kind, motherly like face, definitely not a kidnapper, thought Lavender as they sat down at a bench.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Lavender probed the woman, "you may call my madam Giry,"

"Alright, madam Giry".

Taking a huge deep breath, Madam Giry spilled out the sad history of Lavender, "you have a brother out there in Paris, waiting for you, my girl".


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 (memories of spring)

Lavender could only gap in shock, just minutes ago she had being wishing for a brother and immediately a strange woman called Madam Giry is telling her that she has one.

"Oh yes, you have one, he is called Erik, and living beneath the Opera Populaire, I know it is a strange place to live in, I can bring you there, if you don't mind, for I know that your parents would not care", Madam Giry said in her motherly voice.

Lavender could not believer her ears, what, a man living beneath an opera house? That was absolutely impossible, no, she had heard wrong, that old woman is a liar.

"I think I need to be home, see you," so saying, Lavender hopped off the bench and was about to walk away when the Madam Giry caught up with her, "please, if you were to let me show you, you would definitely be convinced, you brother is longing for you for ages, he asked me to bring you this".

Madam Giry reached in her pocket and brought out a rose, tied in a black silk ribbon, with the words "to Lavender Froney" written on a note tied on the rose as well. With shaking hands, Lavender reached out and took the rose. One look at it would know that it is freshly picked; it smelled like the long-lost spring which Lavender so dearly missed. With a deep breath, she made her choice, "take me to my brother please".


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 (looking for the lost rose)

They had being sitting in the carriage for what seemed to Lavender like years, before it came to a complete stop. Lavender peered out, and could only just make out the majestic building of the Opera Populaire, the world's infamous opera house. Hanging on gold stands were some of the world-renowned operas, many of which Lavender had never seen before in her life, due to the ban from her parents and that being a little timid, she has never in her life ventured anywhere near the Opera Populaire, not to mention, stepping into it, which was exactly what she and Madam Giry did upon arrival.

It was partially crowded inside, with different costumes and props hanging life rag dolls on each side of the sidewalk. There were artists, designing posters and the background of a new production, Hannibal. Ballerinas were leaning against wooden poles and a crowd of young gangly men were crowding around three tall, gorgeous ballerinas with beers and brandy in their hands. Lavender wished that she had eight more eyes, which would definitely allows her to take in more of the wonder of the opera house, before long, she was steered into a room by Madam Giry. She stared.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3 (their first reunion)

She was staring right at a large mirror with an ancient border, there were bright pink and white roses at either side of the mirror, the mirror itself look aged, as thought it had not being used for many years, but the roses were fresh. Strange, thought Lavender, as Madam Giry proceeded to the mirror.

"Um, may I ask what are you attempting to do?" Lavender asked, as she realised, for the first moment that Madam Giry had sank her fingernails into a crack along the edge of the mirror, and was trying to force open the dirty and aged surface. Madam Giry did not replied, instead, she beckoned Lavender forward to help.

As they worked the mirror opened, Lavender's jaw dropped all the way from her face to the floor; was revealed was a secret passage. The walls were carefully carved and there were candlesticks built into the majestic walls, and carefully framed up with solid gold. It was a long and damp corridor. Madam Giry and Lavender stepped gingerly into the corridor, and started their way through what Lavender thought was a worm's underground tunnel. They walked in silence, all the while, Lavender was taking in all that was in front of her, there were passage ways leading to other passageways, hidden from view. They walked all the way down, turning left, then right, and then left again. There don't seem to be a stop to their tour beneath the opera house.

Finally, they came to a lake, Lavender's heart stopped, it was a huge glassy lake with a small boat waiting at the shore, and a metallic pole propped on the wall. They came to a stop, Madam Giry picked up the metal pole, signaled Lavender to get in the boat before starting their journey off in the lake. Lavender sat on the boat, or more like a gondola than a boat, all the time gazing at the stone sculptures high above her head. Soon, she brought her eyes down onto the lake; it was a lonely one, with a soft mist floating above the mirror like water. There was not a soul in sight; Lavender was gapping at the water when a sudden shadow in the lake caused her heart to jump all the way to her mouth.

"Oh yes, there is some extremely big fish in the lake, your brother simply adore them", Madam Giry chuckled, looking at the girl's face. They paddled along.

After what seemed to Lavender like an hour, they came to a large brass gate, they stopped. "How are we going to get in?" Lavender asked, while all the time praying that the door would not open. Madam Giry stepped off the boat, waddled in the cold water and went to a complicated structure outside the gate, after a few pulls and tugs, there came a groan and the brass gate opened, just to reveal yet another gate. It looked more like a shutter than a gate, with thick bars and making the entire chamber looked like a prison than a cave. Madam Giry got into the boat. "Um, how are we going to open this gate?" Lavender asked.

"Oh, my girl, you have much to catch up with your brother later, this is just another one of his clever tricks!" Madam Giry replied with a slight smirk on her face.

At this point, the gate ha already opened. Revealing, through the bars a large and splendid chamber with what seemed to Lavender like a thousand or so candles propped on similar candlesticks in the corridor. Instead, this was much nicer. The first thing that caught her eyes was a graceful piano like instrument placed in the centre of the room. It had long pipes which reached up to the ceiling and shiny keys, there were words carved on the pipes, and which Lavender could not really make out in the distance. There were a couple of oak doors leading to other rooms, perhaps, and several Rome sculptures. While Lavender was busy taking in the strange chamber, Madam Giry had gotten off the boat was making her way to one of the three doors, with a gentle knock, she said, "Hey, Erik, I have brought you a surprise!" there was a ticking of lock and out came Erik.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 (Erik)

Lavender's blood turned cold.

Erik was a really tall man, with slightly muscular arms and chest, his hair was combed neatly behind his ears, but what was special about him was his face. From what she could see, she can only see right half of his face, and they were covered in a snowy white mask. It reached from his forehead to just below his nose. He had a pair of flashing emerald green eyes. As he proceeded out of his room and turned to face Lavender, she managed to get a full view of his face. The other half of his face was, in fact, handsome; with his heroic looking face and an air of strictness hanging around him. He was dressed in what Lavender would call a formal suit, and also with a long billowing cape. Lavender realised, after what seemed to be a few minutes that her mouth was slight opened, she hastened to close it.

Erik, too, looked surprised at Lavender, for he leaned over to Madam Giry and whispered a few words to her, and she, in turn to him. A friendly smile spread over his face, as he extended out his gloved hand to Lavender. Lavender did not take it immediately; instead, she stared at Erik as if he was some interesting artichoke on display. Then with a nudge from Madam Giry, she took his hand in her shaking one, as Erik lead her to his organ. She flinched slightly as he attempted to peer at her eyes, he gasped.

Madam Giry smiled and said, "Yes, I know, her eye colour is the same as yours, Erik, bright green, now wasn't that cute?" Erik shot her a look as if to say "What's so cute about that" and turned his attention back to Lavender, who was cowering away from him. "You can go now, Madam Giry, and thanks for your service", Erik said.

It was the first time that Lavender had heard Erik says anything aloud, but she now noticed that Erik had a really angelic voice. It was better than an angel's, perhaps, she thought. It was a firm, strong and masculine voice, good for singing, thought Lavender again. Though she has not being to sing herself, she had certain music cells in her blood stream which allows her to enjoy music in a lonely world of her own.

Her attention was brought to the fact that Madam Giry had curtsied and left the cave, Lavender's heart skipped a beat. She and this strange man are left alone in this cold place. She looked back at Erik's eyes. He lifted her chin with his hands, and with a look of indifference, he said to her for the first time.

"Can you tell me about your mother?"

"Er, well, there is nothing much about her, why must you ask?" Lavender replied. Erik tiled his head to one side, looking at her in a strange way.

"Your voice is really good for singing, as I put it," he said again.

"Um, thanks, really, I did not really heard that praise from anyone so far", Lavender found herself unable to tear her eyes away from Erik, whose eyes were suddenly, strangely, filled with tears.

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned. "Yeah, I am, don't worry," said Erik.

"Madam Giry told me that you are my brother, and I am not ready to accept the truth, I need to see some proves so as to tell that she is not lying to me," Lavender replied with a firm tone, though she regretted it later, for upon her words, Erik turned to look at her in a look that could make her recoil against the wall. With a quick swiping movement, he whipped a crumpled photograph from his pocket. Without a word, he handed it over to Lavender. Taking it in her hands, she looked at it carefully, it was taken when she was two, with her "parents" smilingly held her in their arms, and standing next to her "mother" was a boy, around 13 to 14 of age, with a similar white mask one his face. She turned the photograph around. "Taken in 1857 of the Froney's family, from left, Helen, Erik, Charles, and Lavender Froney" the label read.

So absorbed she was in the photograph she did not noticed that Erik was standing right behind her, peering at the photograph too, until he finally spoke, making her jump.

"Now you would believe?" he said, with that tenor voice of his. Turning around, Lavender looked at him straight in the eyes.

"The moment you came into my view I knew for sure that you are definitely my sister, there is a difference of 11 years between us, had you not being so young, we would have being mistaken for un-identical twins", he said with a slight smirk.

"Perhaps it had being a coincidence, but the reason that we are 11 years apart was because of the 11 ways we are the same, our eyes, for example." He said, gesturing towards Lavender's eyes and his own. "You are unusually quiet, I observed, you have not talked since I asked you about your mother," he remarked, causing Lavender to blush in embarrassment, though she had to admit that she was very quiet, being commented on like a flower by a stranger was not what she had being looking forward to. "Take a seat, you may rest assured that your mother would not be missing you", he said, as he pointed a seat to Lavender while he himself settled in a throne-like chair over beside the piano-like thing. Lavender sat shakily down. "Now, I know we had not met for like 12 years, I am 25, by the way, and you are 14, I presume?" he said, looking at Lavender with an air of a judge who was sentencing a criminal. Lavender tried to say something, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out; her words were lost in her throat.

"Come on, say something, I won't eat you, don't worry, I did not know that my sister was this quiet," he said with a smirk. And I did not know that my brother is so strange, either, thought Lavender.

"If…If I come here, do…do I still need to….to live with my parents anymore?" she finally managed to stuttered out. "No, you don't and by the sound of it, you don't seem to enjoy living with them?" Erik said. "No, I do not, sometimes, they do not feel like my real parents, they often put me out of their sight," Lavender said with a tiny voice.

"Well, that's tomorrow, for today, you better take a nap first, you look tired out", Erik said. Taking with him a candle, he lead Lavender out of the main chamber and opened one of the three doors built into the wall.

Opening one, he led her into a beautiful large room with a nice swan bed in one corner. It was covered with a beautiful bright pink and purple blanket, the color of lavender. With further observation, Lavender realised that almost everything the room was lavender. The carpets, the table, and other furniture were all in dark and light lavender. There were candles all around too, giving the room a light and mysterious feeling.

"Well, I thought that the color goes well with your name, but it is quite a nice color for a girl too." said Erik with a bit of a shrug. There, propped on silver shiny stand was some music scores and lying by the foot of the stand was a silver, well-polished flute.

"How do you know that I play the flute?" Lavender asked. For she had indeed played the flute in her school's band, plus the piccolo, which one of her pride. She had spotted the gold piccolo, right next to the flute. And there, on the other corner of her room, was a piano, jet black covered with a lavender colored cloth, and a grand looking seat. Placed in a vase on top of the piano were a sprig of lavender, and a single stalk of blood-red rose, similar to the one that Madam Giry had given her. "Do you like it?" Erik's voice broke through the strange solitude, echoing in her head. She spurned around, and said

"Yes, it is beautiful," "I had spent time preparing for your arrival". Then, walking over to a large wardrobe (also lavender colored), he flung open the closet and revealed a large variety of clothes. Ranging from black to white, but most of them was lavender. There were a couple of black and white ones, by just looking at them; lavender could tell that they were fine ones, made from silk. "All that is in this closet are yours," Erik said quietly.

He then helped her into bed. Covering her with the lavender blanket, he leaned over and said in her ears, "nothing is impossible, my dear, you had dreamt of a brother, not your dream comes true", Lavender smiled, for the first time, and snuggled down in the blanket. She rolled over and fell asleep, feeling, for the first time that she is finally at home.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 (what warm unspoken secrets will we learn)

By the time when she woke up, Lavender realised that the room was pitch black. Scared, she got out of her bed, slipping down onto the cold stone floor. After pulling on her shoes, she quickly proceeded to where she remembered the door should be. Her eyes could not be adjusted to the darkness. She walked quickly towards her right. The door should be here, she thought, but before she could get anywhere, her head collided with something hard as the surrounding walls. She was flung to the ground by the impact. Almost instantly, she felt stars popping out of her head, perching her close to unconsciousness.

Outside, Erik, who was as usual working on another opera on his organ, heard a mighty crashing sound coming from his new-found sister's room. Trying to catch his breath, he took a candle from his instrument and dashed to her room, only to open the door to find her laying on the floor, a hair breath away from unconsciousness. "Are you alright?" he asked concerned, as he knelt down to help her up. "Yeah, I think so, although I must admit that it is not very common a thing for me to wake up and knock into something," Lavender replied groggily.

"There is a lamp at your bedside; you can turn it on anytime you want"

"Oh, alright, thanks anyway."

Erik lead her out, before turning to his organ again.

"Um, by the way, what is that piano-like instrument that you are playing now?" Lavender asked timidly.

"Oh, that's an organ; this one is made by me." Erik replied, "You can come for a closer look if you want." Almost carefully, Lavender proceeded up towards the organ. This time, she could see the words carved upon the pipes more properly. It was, as she saw it was a poem, no doubt written by Erik himself.

_A place where roses bloom,_

_The sun will rise once more._

_Where winter never show,_

_Where forest trees stood tall._

_Where lavenders grow in patches,_

_Where roses grow in groups._

_Where loves never die there,_

_Where hatred never looms._

_In spring's Garden,_

_Where happiness is always. _

"I was certain that it would catch your attention," said Erik with a smile. "I am not an expert poet, but I can write some simple ones". "It's beautiful," Lavender said. Her gaze dropped onto the score that Erik was working on. "Don Juan Triumphant, what sort of opera is that?" Lavender thought, but to her horror, she had said it aloud.

Eyeing her with an almost furious look, Erik replied through gritted teeth, "It's a romance opera, well, not really that romantic but still passes as one." Damn! Why must girls be so curious all the time? Erik thought, furious.

"The previous opera er…..incident destroyed my former piece, so I am working on another one. Surely you have heard about the Opera Populaire's Incident? It's on the news."

Lavender scowled in her heart. She had indeed heard of the incident, through her friends, and not through the newspaper. She had never read any newspaper ever since she started school. Every detail of the incident was told by her ever-enthusiastic friends; the infamous chandelier was crashed and set the entire opera house aflame.

"The opera house was on fire and destroyed everything, I think it is because of the fact that the chandelier was not hung properly, it collapsed." Lavender spoke quietly, almost to herself than to Erik.

She felt Erik did a sharp intake of breadth, "It is not because of the backstage, my dear," Erik said with that musical voice of his. Lavender flinched; she was still not used to Erik calling her "dear".

His next sentence was terrifying, "It was because of me, the Phantom of the Opera".


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 (confession)

Lavender could feel the walls sinking in upon her. Erik, her brother, no, it cannot be. Her brother could not have done such a terrible thing, something must be wrong. He is lying, he is.

Erik could feel the familiar feeling of guilt and hatred boiling inside him. He tried to take those tortuous words back, but too late, the damage is already done, he has past the point of no return. He raised his head, and saw, to his dismal, Lavender staring at him with a readable expression of disappointment and shock. She could not take the truth. With a shaking hand, he tried to brush off the strand of dark hair off from his face, though all the time tried to avoid eye contact with his sister. She got to know the truth, he argued with himself. Right after the horrifying incident, everything inside him had being reduced to cinders, nothing is left now, not even his music. Still, there was his love for Christine burning inside him, in a strong, furious flame, scalding his inner soul. Yet, standing, facing this delicate creature was more than he could take. He felt like a monster, ready to strike out, destroying everything in his path. Something of her stopped him. Raising his head once more, he could see the once-horrified-but-now-understanding look on his sister's face.

"No, don't think of me that way, it is not my fault that cause me to do this," he moaned. Still, Lavender did not remove her gaze at her brother.

"Why, though, what really happened?" she asked, concerned, as she realised that tears were collecting at the corner of his brother's emerald green eyes.

"There's no why, damn it, it is all because of her!" Erik felt his voice rising, no longer with the softness in them. He buried his face in his hands, and sat down at his bench, knowing the worse was about to come.

"Who?" his sister's curious, yet childish voice came penetrating out of the darkness to his ears.

"Christine Daae, a famous Prima Donna working here previously. She was the one I loved so much, but she left with this…this fop by the name of…." He gagged, unable to continue his sentence, shedding his eyes away from Lavender benefited only by not letting her see him cry, but did cause his mask to become askew. He adjusted it, before turning back to his sister with his face perfectly dry.

"Of what?" Lavender did not seem determined to let the matter rest, she was like a stubborn kitten, determined as ever to get to a treat as anything.

"You do not need to details, just stay with me, don't every leave again; I could not bear with your disappearance, since the day you left." Erik replied shortly, before turning back to his opera.

Lavender stared at him in a strange way. Before long, another bugging question came into her mind again. What was Erik hiding in that mask? She asked herself. She knew that she should ask Erik anymore, for he looked distracted enough. Still, that did not mean that she can just give up that easily. What if she was to……….


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 (closer than they ever thought)

Lavender plowed into her room, still shaking from last night's shock, a brother? How a brother could just come so easily? She was hoping for a brother, and all of a sudden, she got one. Pacing around her own room, she thought.

This is a dream, she told herself angrily. This is just a horrible, loathsome dream. I am still asleep, and it does not make any sense at all, not at all. I cannot just get a brother as easy…maybe I should get out of this place; I should ask my parents…I should…………WHAM! Lavender (second time on her arrival) rammed into a huge candlestick, and for the second time, she felt as if all the wind were knocked out of her. She fell onto the ground, unconscious this time.

Outside, Erik was so distracted that he did not even hear the commotion in his sister's room. Why must she ask? He pounded, why must women be so curious all the time? Why!

All of a sudden, he felt a terrible pain in his temple, as thought someone invisible had just rammed him in the head with something heavy. He was blinded with pain for a moment. Groaning slightly, he stumbled and sat down onto the organ's bench, all the breath out of him. When his eyes were finally cleared, he shakily stood up and looked around. Nothing happened just now, nothing, yet………. He sprinted towards Lavender's room. What if this were to happen? He thought desperately, but it is really rare, this type of sibling's telepath, he had heard of it from Madam Giry before, but he had never predicted that it would happen between him and Lavender. No way, it is impossible.

He twisted the door knob of Lavender's room; it was locked. He had the key, but can't remember where he put it. Damn it, he thought angrily. Then, he had an idea. Taking a few steps back, he rammed into the door with all his might, the door cringed but did not give way. Erik had to do this three times before the door finally burst open.

God, he thought. He got to his knees and lifted the unconscious girl up into his arm. Not again! Erik felt a surge of pity overwhelming him. Shakily, he held Lavender's head to his neck. God, he thought again. Lavender's head was bleeding, very badly. Erik laid her on the swan bed and covered her with the blanket. As if t, he rushed to his room and took out a bottle of lavender liquid, plus bandages, a clean sponge and a pail of warm water. He went back to Lavender's room.

It took him awhile to stop the blood flow, for Lavender was bleeding a lot. Cautiously, he opened the bottle of lavender fluid, and poured out the liquid from the bottle. Gently, he dabbed the wound carefully. After the wound was cleaned, he cut out a length of bandage and bounded Lavender's head firmly with it, in order to stop further bleeding. But she was still unconscious; he worriedly paced in her room, swearing to stay beside her bed till she awoke.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 (never before)

For a day and night, Erik guarded by Lavender's bedside, not daring to leave. He had never before left his organ alone for so long in his life. Still, no matter how much the urge was for him to leave the room, he still could not find the heart to abandon Lavender in her state. At midnight, Lavender had developed a fever. Erik tried hard not to panic. He remembered how Madam Giry would keep the room's temperature high and keep him in the room when he caught a fever last time. Erik lit a fire in Lavender's room that night, still guarding her. Every minute or so, he would put his hand on her tender skin to check on her temperature, her temperature seemed to be going down. Erik breathed a sigh of relief.

On the second day while Erik was nodding off to sleep, Lavender awoke. She took a quick look around. Breathing in heavily, she tried to sit up and found her brother slumped on the side of her bed, semi-conscious. She felt feverish, but was considerably stronger. She nudged her brother gently in the shoulders. Erik awoke with a start and he turned to face his sister.

"Oh my god, I was worried sick, how you are feeling?" he asked in a concern tone, looking at his sister's pale and gaunt face. "I am fine, thank you", though Lavender had already spent a day with her new-found brother; she was still not used to Erik being so worried about her. "I will get you something to eat; you had not eaten for a day." As though eager to break the conversation, Erik turned to get up and left, leaving Lavender in her own thoughts.

As Erik went about preparing for Lavender's meal, he had plenty of time to think about the silent little girl. Is there something more than just sibling's relationship between us? He thought, confused. He had felt pain when she was one who got hurt. Maybe it was just a coincidence? Baffled, Erik felt that there is something he had to find out, a secret hidden in his little sister.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 (Love shown)

The next few weeks passed without many incidents (Lavender no longer knock into things anymore). Still, Erik felt himself pondering about Lavender, whenever he is free. After Christine had gone off with that fop, he had been shunned again, looked upon with no love. Yet, he felt that Lavender had something on her mind which she was unwilling, or maybe she was just too scared to tell him. Yeah, of coarse, scared of the monster, he thought bitterly. He knew that she still could not get used to having a brother, but honestly, he had showed proof, and he had proved it himself and just why could she not understand how much he loved her? He had waited months and years for her.

In this few weeks and days, Lavender kept to her room most of the time, although Erik often shown hints of wanting to be with her. No matter how much she tried to persuade herself to believe that he is indeed her brother, she still could not find a reason to trust him yet. Not yet, she thought, as she practiced on her flute over and over again. All those scores, were surely written by Erik himself, she had heard too many of his work to know his style. Among them was the infamous Don Juan Triumphant, which had triggered Erik's irritation. The only time when she would come out of her room would be for meals. She had often seen Erik going out at certain times, but never actually know what he had being up to. Sometimes, he would come back looking quite exhausted, but happy at the same time, and sometimes furious.

However, Lavender's birthday was creeping near, she wasn't very sure if she should tell Erik or not. Better not, she thought. She did not want to risk it. Still, on second thought, she could not bear to live in a dark place without a birthday. However, after much thinking, she decided not to tell him, wait till later, when they were closer. While she was thinking all these, Erik himself was preparing much for the oncoming occasion. Should I tell her now or shall I surprise her? He too asked himself. Better not tell her, let her think that I did not know about her birthday, it would be a nice surprise, he thought. He carefully wrapped a present, wrote a simple song just for her, and ordered fresh lavenders and roses from Madam Giry.

On the day of her birthday, Lavender was almost too sure that Erik would not care. With a sinking heart, she got out of bed, chose a dress, and had placed it on when she heard a mighty crash in the main room. Alarmed, she dashed out, only to be rained with a shower of flower petals. With her dark hair covered with red petals, she turned around to see Erik smiling at her from a corner. "Happy Birthday! Lavender, I had hoped that you would enjoy it down here, although I know that it would take some time in getting used to it". Shrugging, Erik handed her a present wrapped in gold which he had been hiding behind his back.

Lavender was touched, but not to mention, stunned. How was possible that Erik remembered her birthday? It had being years since they last met. With shaking hands, she took the present from Erik. "Go on, open it, see what I made for you", Erik urged. Trying hard not to tremble, Lavender opened the neatly wrapped present, to reveal………a music box.

It was a lovely one, made with greatest care. With a graceful swan on top of a grand oak box, there was a tiny knob at the side at which she could tune in to the music. She twisted the knob ever so slightly and a piece which she recognized as "Think of me" was played. She looked up, delighted, to find Erik playing a peaceful piece on his organ. Lavender closed her eyes, letting the music flood into her heart, and into her mind. For one moment, she could think of nothing, all her mind and concentration were on Erik's music. After what seemed like a minute to Lavender, Erik had already finished the three pages score. "Don't stop, please, Erik, don't stop", she begged. "I never thought you would like it, I…I did not really plan to continue", Erik replied, looking at her straight in the eyes.

For a moment, their eyes were locked. Lavender, who had not heard Erik sang before since she came down suddenly, had an idea. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Erik, can you sing for me? I had never heard you sing before, please do," looking up at him expectantly. Erik paused, and obliged:

Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation  
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination  
silently the senses abandon their defenses

Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor  
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender  
Turn your face away from the garish light of day  
Turn your face away from cold, unfeeling light  
And listen to the music of the night

Close you eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams  
leave all thoughts of the world you knew before  
close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar  
And you'll live as you've never lived before

Softly, deftly, music shall caress you  
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you  
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind  
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight  
The darkness of the music of the night

Let your mind start a journey through a strange, new world  
Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before  
Let your soul take you where you long to go  
Only then can you belong to me

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication  
Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation  
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in  
to the power of the music that I write,  
for I composed the music of the night.

You alone can make my song take flight  
Help me make the music of the night

Erik finished his song, his eyes was suddenly filled with tears. He had sung this to Christine, on the first night they met. It was only when Lavender spoke that brought him back to his sense.

"It is beautiful," she gasped. Smiling at the compliment, he suddenly remembered where he had planned to take her. Rushing to his own room, he whipped out a new and a smaller size cape, one which he had being preparing just for her. Walking over to her, he helped her put it on. It fitted her perfectly, just a little longer but she would grow into it. Satisfied, he pulled her over to his gondola and invited her in. "Where are we going?" Lavender asked, looking nervous. "Don't worry, we are going to somewhere special", Erik replied.

They hitched the boat and began their trek up the opera house. All of a sudden, at a top of a tower, Erik turned to Lavender and insisted that she be blind-folded. "Why?" Lavender asked, completely confused. "Never mind, just do it!" Erik whispered, almost urgently. Casting a weird look at Erik, Lavender took the piece of black cloth which he was holding out to her and wrapped it around her eyes. Erik led her to one of his favourite spot: The Opera Populaire rooftop.

Chapter 10 (The world at their reach)

Lavender was getting annoyed; they had being walking along for many minutes. The only thing which she knew was that they were ascending up the tower. How far can we go? She asked herself. Finally, when she was getting tired, she heard Erik unlocking a door.

A sudden rush of gentle winter breeze was blown her way. Lavender could smell winter, as though it was just hovering in front of her, she took a deep breath.

"Now you can take that cloth off", Erik's musical voice floated out to her ears. Almost eagerly, she tore the cloth off from her eyes. She gasped.

Below them, stretched out like a map was the once lonely street of Paris, but now, as viewed from the top of the Opera Populaire's top tower, Lavender could not longer feel the loneliness anymore. Instead, she felt as though the entire Paris was at their reach. Looking below, she could see ants-like people wandering about in the streets, little blue dots of policemen patrolling, and a flock of pigeons fluttered up to her. Lavender could hardly control her excitement.

"I knew you would like that", said an amused voice behind her.

Turning around, she caught sight of Erik leaning on of the many golden statues of angels.

"Oh my god, I love it, how did you discover it?"

"Through my exploring when I first came to the opera house" He said.

As Lavender was enjoying the scenery of Paris, she did not notice that Erik's smile was no longer there and that all it left in place was a pained look. He was thinking 8 months back. Eight months, Christine had being here with Raoul, the fop. They vowed their love up here, in the middle of the night, against his will. He walked slowly over to a single statue. There was a flight of stairs up there, and that was the very statue at which he had climbed up and voiced out his determination in a fit of rage.

Something caught his eyes, he walked over to corner, where he found a single black ribbon; his black ribbon. He remembered tying it on the rose which he had given Christine, and how she had dropped it in order to get to Raoul, and how he had crushed up the delicate body of the rose when he was alone out of age. Only the ribbon survived. He found a sob crawling up his throat, but he could not bring himself to cry in front of his sister. She wanted her brother to be strong, not weak. Still, his love for Christine was burning in him, not willing to leave him yet.

It was getting cold; he strolled over to his sister, who was already shivering in cold. "Come on, we better go down before you catch pneumonia", he said, gently putting his arm around her shoulder and guided her towards the door. Casting a longing look at the world at her reach, Lavender followed her brother back.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 (arrows, swords and water)

The very next morning, Lavender awoke with a pain in her head. Oh no, not again, she thought, rubbing her forehead furiously. As she got dressed, she began to think that she had caught something horrid. She could hardly breathe, and every breath she took brought shots of pain in her lungs. She crawled back to bed, hoping that Erik would not notice.

However, before she could even respond, Erik came bursting into the room, with a breakfast tray.

"Have a bit of a lay-in, you must have being affected by yesterday's adventure", he said casually.

"Hey, how do you know?" Lavender asked, bolts of suspicions were shooting up her spine.

"Strange, as I would call it, but somehow there must have being telepathy between us." Then catching the puzzled look on Lavender's face, he made it bland "meaning that I could feel how you were feeling right now. I awoke with a feeling as though I had run a mile; don't ask about what was happening", Erik said, setting the tray down in an almost heavy way.

After breakfast, Lavender took her flute and piccolo out (and for the first time) to the main chamber. There, instead of Erik composing his music on the organ, he was practicing……….archery. There, propped on the walls were some dart boards like things. Curious, Lavender crept up to her brother.

"Um, Erik, just what on earth are you doing? Practicing archery below the opera house?" Lavender asked timidly.

"Well, I have got to keep practicing, it is quite useful in some areas though," Erik shrugged.

"Well, are you any good?" Lavender asked mischievously. "I had being to practice for 4 years, what do you think?" Erik glanced back at Lavender.

"Show me," Lavender insisted.

Hitching up an arrow onto his bow very carefully, Erik took a careful aim at the centre of the board. Relax, it is just what you do every day, he tried to calm himself.

Then, Lavender giggled.

Erik missed, the arrow flew all the way to the edge of the board, hardly missing the stone hard wall.

"You put me off!" Erik spat angrily.

"Oooh! Was it me? Or was it you?" Lavender smirked. Erik turned red with embarrassed. "Let me show you!" Lavender suavely took the bow and another arrow from Erik.

Lavender stood up straight, she aimed with the greatest care. Closing one eye, she let the bow go. She heard Erik gasped. Lowering the bow, she felt a sense of pride as the arrow stood exactly at the centre of the board.

"See? Seems that I have to teach you archery," Lavender said. Erik felt himself burning up.

"That's really good," he felt himself saying. He had an idea. She would not know this skill, He thought with contempt. Walking straight to his sword sheathe, he drew his sword, one of his pride, out. Turning to Lavender, he felt a single stab of pride as the girl's mouth dropped open.

"You know this?" he asked.

"Er….yeah, it is a sword isn't it?" Lavender asked with a bit of shiver in her voice.

"Yeah, examine it carefully, and you would realize that this is an extremely expensive one", Erik handed the sword to Lavender. Taking the deadly weapon in her hand, Lavender could feel a surge of fear crawling down her throat. Looking at the hand would give anyone horror. It was a shiny silver skull at the handle; the sword was polished till Lavender could see her own reflection.

"How was that?" Erik's silky voice echoed about in her head.

Snapping back to reality, Lavender caught Erik's eyes, it was dancing with flame of contempt, and a single bit of thirst. Trying to smile, Lavender returned the sword to Erik, all the time trying hard not to imagine one being sliced with the murderous weapon.

"Actually, I am planning to teach you swordfight, you will need it. Especially when your brother is a wanted prisoner." Erik spoke carefully, choosing words which he is comfortable with.

Looking up, Lavender felt that somewhere deep inside Erik's voice there was a hint of guilt, trying hard not to look accusing, she turned to leave her room. That night, she heard Erik pacing about in his room, trying hard to shut out her feeling of pity towards her brother, she tossed and turned in her bed, all the while thinking of Erik.

That night, she decided, she would go up to the ceiling, out of curiosity. She had wanted to see Paris at night, but after that night's event, she could not bring herself to ask Erik. Later that night, she put on an ankle length dress and her new cape which Erik gave her, and as silent as she could be, she crept out. Looking at the lake, she felt a tiny bit of fear. She still had not forgotten about the big fishes that lived beneath the lake. She cast a look at the shore.

There was a gondola, which she knew that Erik used, but "parked" beside it was another one, but smaller this time. An elegant head of a swan was carved on it, and a single oar laid in it. She felt her pulse quickened. Did Erik know that she was going out? She could have sworn that the gondola was not there just now.

The thought of going up to the tower dissolved in her mind. Better safe than sorry, she had not known how to paddle a boat yet. Kneeling down at the water edge, she could feel an excitement pounding, the water looked transparent, yet, she could not see the bottom. God, the water must be deep, she thought with a bit of a fear.

Then, out of the blue, a tiny fish swam its way up to Lavender. It was of coloured stripes, extremely attractive. With a tiny squeak of excitement, Lavender extended her hand out to the tiny creature. With a swishing of its tail, it disappeared into the bottom of the endless lake. The fish was out of danger, but Lavender certainly was not.

Leaning forward so much has caused an impartial balance of her weight, while she was still busy gloating over the appearance of the creature, she felt her entire body slumped forward into the icy cold, scary lake water.

The first thing she could make out was a dark, dungeon like place with a dark, almost flowing green bottom. In fact, it was almost bottomless. Panic surged through her entire body, causing her to take in large amounts of water. She tried to force a scream, in order to get the attention of Erik, who was obviously asleep now. But her voice was choked with fear, no longer able to utter anything. She tried to propel herself up to the surface, but no amounts of splashing would help anyway. Is this mysterious lake going to be my grave? She thought anxiously as she tried her best to take in air above, but all she managed to do was to get more water into her lungs. She felt unconsciousness creeping, and after a while, she knew no more.

Erik had being asleep in his coffin when he felt as thought something was clogging up his lungs. Though how much he tried to take in breath, he felt as thought his lungs was going to burst. Something is wrong, again, he thought desperately. Pulling on his cape, he rushed out, only to find a silent and eerie lake, and no sound of Lavender. But there must be something wrong! He thought, desperate. He took a good look at the lake. It seemed quiet, unusually quiet, and then he saw her.

She was floating face-down, her dark hair swirling in the water. Almost as if something was tore away from him, Erik leaped into the water without second thoughts. He was surprised, for the first few seconds, as he realised how deep the water was. He could hardly touch the bottom. As though some strong powers were propelling him forward, he swam to Lavender, and grabbing her arm, he tried to keep her head above the water. With not much difficulties (since Lavender did not weigh much), he managed to pull her out of the water.

He carried her to her room, and laid her down. She looked lovely, even unconscious, with her dark hair hanging in strands. Desperately, Erik listened for a heart beat. He heard it, but it was faint. Through many experience of the Punjab Lasso, he knew he had to clear her airway. He carefully grasped Lavender's delicate neck. He tilted her head back wards, hoping that she would come to her sense.

Within a minute, Lavender's eyes snapped open (much to Erik's relief). She coughed, and threw up mouthful after mouthful of water, gasping for breath. Erik patted her behind her back, trying to clear her lungs of water before she suffocated.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked urgently.

Having found her voice, Lavender shakily replied "yeah, I am alright, but what really hap…….Oh! I remembered! It was a fish, I tried to catch it, it ran away, I tripped and fell into the……..".

"Never mind that, breath now, calm down, don't be scared, you are safe. You did not tell me you cannot swim", Erik asked.

"And just what makes you think I can?" Lavender snapped in a bit of irritation.

Taken aback by Lavender's sudden mood swing, Erik got off her bed. "I will be in the main chamber, if you need anything, you know where to find me!".

That took Lavender a bit hard; she knew she had hurt Erik's feeling. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 (a new angel was born)

Lavender awoke the next day, her head still groggy. It took her a while to remember what had happened. She got dressed, and stepped out of her room. There, sitting on his organ (as usual) was Erik. He was dressed in black today (as usual again).

"Um…. Erik?" Lavender uttered his name and for the first time in three months, his name seemed to feel very foreign on her lips.

Erik turned around and faced his sister, so beautiful, he thought. Lavender was dressed in a dress of lavender pink, matching her name; her hair combed back neatly and fastened with a pin. There was look of….shame? Or was it purely amusement? Erik could not tell.

"Is there something which you would like to tell me?" he asked gently, taking note of the urgency in his voice. Lavender bowed her head, not daring to look into her brother's handsome face.

"If it is for last night, I do not blame you, I do have mood swings too", as if talking to himself.

"I am really sorry, I mean, I was just confused, I did not meant to be rude, or something," Lavender whispered. Something inside her told her to look up, into her brother's eyes; she obeyed, only to find him looking pitifully at her. "You fell into the lake, I saved you, there is not much you need to know about", Erik said, his eyes boring deep into hers. There was a moment of silence.

"Enough of talks, we've got work to do, I intended to teach you how to sing, and let's not let that pretty voice gone to waste", said Erik.

A moment later, Erik was sitting on his bench in front of the organ.

"Now, have you, by any chance at all watched any of the opera here?" He asked, not unkindly.

"No"

"Not at all?"

"No"

"Then, child, we have a lot to work up on." Inside him, Erik felt disappointed; she had not being in any contact with his music? Riffling through his stack of notes at the right side of the organ, he took out a piece and handed it to her. Lavender took a look at it, "Don Juan Triumphant", it says.

"Oh no, I can't do this piece, the pitch is too high", she said, taking not of the high notes and the low ones, which were written on the new piece of parchment. Erik changed the piece without requests, and took out another one: Think of me.

Lavender took it with shaking hands, with a brief nod that she is ready, Erik began to play the starting line, and with a little shaky but angelic voice, Lavender began to sing:

_Think of me  
think of me fondly,  
when we've said goodbye.  
Remember me  
once in a while -  
please promise me  
you'll try._

When you find  
that, once  
again, you long  
to take your heart back  
and be free -  
if you  
ever find  
a moment,  
spare a thought  
for me

We never said  
our love  
was evergreen,  
or as unchanging  
as the sea -  
but if  
you can still  
remember  
stop and think  
of me . . .

Think of all the things  
we've shared and seen  
don't think about the things  
which might have been . . .

Think of me,  
think of me waking,  
silent and  
resigned.

Imagine me,  
trying too hard  
to put you  
from my mind.

Recall those days  
look back  
on all those times,  
think of the things  
we'll never do -  
there will  
never be  
a day, when  
I won't think  
of you . .

We never said  
our love  
was evergreen,  
or as unchanging  
as the sea -  
but please  
promise me,  
that sometimes  
you will think of me!

After the final line, she heard the music stopped; there was a minute of silence.

"You are great", Erik said suddenly. His voice was filled with a mixture of surprise and joy, "Why did not tell me you can sing?" he asked again.

"That's because I never thought that I can sing," Lavender said, almost blushing.

They continued their lesson, and Erik handed her several other pieces to sing. She was pretty good, he thought, just needing some more of a touchup, and she would be better than that toad Carlotta, Erik thought.

That day, Erik and Lavender were working on her voice all day long, they only stopped for meals. At the end of the day, they were really tired out. As Erik was tucking Lavender into bed that night, Lavender suddenly spoke, "Erik, can you tell me more about Carlotta?"

"She was the formal Prima Donna, and now, she is the diva of the next opera, which is Hannibal", Erik replied gently.

"Is she any good?" Lavender's emerald green eyes seemed to widen to the size of eggs, as she pressed for more information. Smiling slightly at the curious look on his sister's face, Erik replied again in his musical voice, "Well, let's just say we continue our lesson tomorrow, and after a few days of practice, you can take her place."

"And now, its time for your sleep, my angel," Bending forward, he kissed her on the forehead, like what he did now everyday before her bedtime. For the first time, Lavender wrapped her arms around him in an almost loving way, before planting a kiss on his forehead too. Temporarily surprised, Erik withdrawn out of the room quietly and switched out the lights, leaving Lavender in her dream. As far as he knew, another angel of music was born that day.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 (her first prank)

Morning came without notice, as living down in a dark cave would not give anyone a hint of time or day. Lavender awoke, pulling on her dress; she could hear the organ playing again, as if luring her to her brother. It was cold that day, so Lavender put on a coat. Proceeding out of her room, she saw her brother, as usual, sitting on the bench and playing a new piece. She had not heard that one before.

"Um, Erik?" she asked. Her brother turned to face her. "Can we continue with our lesson?" she asked timidly.

"Oh no, I want to bring you somewhere, teach you something." That was Erik's reply.

"Oh, where?" Lavender said.

"Do you remember the toad Carlotta which I told you last night? Well, we are going to have some fun with her today, she was blaring on top above the opera house yesterday, I thought a rockslide was going to occur," Erik said slowly. Lavender giggled, she found Erik funny.

"When are we going?" she asked. "Now. Grab your cape and follow me", on saying, Erik turned towards his own room and brought out his own jet-black cape while he waited for Lavender to get hers. With a brief check that his handy Punjab-Lasso was safely tucked beneath his clock, he and Lavender proceeded with their mission.

"What are we going to do to her?" Lavender whispered, they are currently hiding at the top of the opera house. There was a cold wind blowing, and Lavender fought a shiver.

"Watch" Erik climbed to a small opening near them; he had tied a letter with a small pebble to assist in its descend. Almost carefully, he dropped the letter into the opera house, aware of the full dress rehearsal that was going on below.

Crouching somewhere about 5 foots away from Erik, Lavender pressed her ears to the cold, hard ceiling of the opera house, waiting to hear something. A second later, she heard gasps as Erik's letter was being dropped into view.

"It's the opera ghost!" she heard someone screamed.

"NO! Its not! It's a prank, it is prank, don't worry, madam, its just a joke from someone."

"Firmin! You have being in this opera house too long to know about the Phantom of the Opera! You know perfectly well that the ghost is serious!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

There were chaoses beneath them; Lavender felt a grin creeping to her face. "What's so funny?" Erik asked, though he himself was spotting a smirk. "Nothing," Lavender said. Deep inside her, she felt like doing something too, Erik had being an example of tricks; maybe she should think of something more fun…….

"Are you sure this will work?" Erik asked her quietly.

"Yes, just watch, she is going to lose a lot of hair like this!" Lavender replied. She had with her a silver hairpin covered with glue. They were hiding in one of Erik's secret passage behind the diva's dressing room mirror. Silently, Lavender crept out, and placed the hair pin onto the table. Emit the candlelight, the hairpin looked strangely shiny, though it was not really obvious. Lavender was about to proceed back when she heard voices coming nearer and nearer to the dressing room.

"What a night, I am impressed, Da Carlotta," a male voice said.

"Well, as a Prrrrrrrrima Dona, my job is to make sure that eevery thing is under mah control, I would like to drrrrrrrrrrress up for supper, coming, Piangi?" a woman's voice stained with Spanish ascents came gloating towards the door.

Lavender's feet were glued to the ground in shock, and suddenly a pair of strong gloved hands grabbed her and pulled her into the mirror once again. "Well, that was certainly a try," a growled Erik. Lavender, who was laughing about Carlotta's ascent, was muffled as Erik pressed his hand over her mouth.

"Shush, if you laugh, everything is going to be a ruin", he said, Lavender nodded. She was trying to take in breath, but Erik's hand forbidden her to do so. Nodding to Erik to show that she knew had saved her from suffocation. They waited with bated breath as Carlotta enter, throwing her costume aside. "Whaaaaaat a night!" she almost yelled, as she put on a whole piece gown. She began removing her make-up. It was easy to see that she was a make-up-remove expert, for within minutes, mascaras, lipsticks, and blushes were gone from her toad like face. Her hand reached to the glue-covered clip.

Erik felt tension growing in her sister.

Carlotta stretched out her bone-thin hand and grabbed the clip, before fastening securely to her hair. Lavender giggled silently.

"My dear, are you ready?" Piangi's voice came floating into the room.

"Yes! I will be rrrrrrrrrrrrready in a minute!" Carlotta shrieked back. "Oh, thees colour does not match mah!" Carlotta looked into the desk mirror, commenting on her hair clip. She reached out and tried to take it off.

"Sttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrange, why is this eeediotic hairclip not coming ouf?" she muttered, tugging at her hair. "Hey, Peeangi, 'elp me with me hairclip!" she yelled towards the door after a few second of agony trying to remove the clip. There was a knock and the door swung opened to reveal a short, putty man with a goatee. "What is it, my darling?" he asked. "Don't stund there weeeth that sheeeeeeeeeepish grrrrrrrrrin on yur face, 'elp mah with me hairclip!" Carlotta snapped. Piangi proceeded to take the stubborn hairclip off, but however hard he tried, he could not take it off. "There's something wrong," he muttered to himself. He gave a great tug.

There was a booming shriek of pain that erupted from the diva's room, and within a minute, madam Giry, Andre, Firmin, and followed by a group of other sopranos came bursting into the room.

"What happened?" Madam Giry asked, "This sssssssstoooopid hairclip woooold not come ouf!" Carlotta shriek, "Und heeem!" she screamed, pointing at Piangi, "trrrrrrrried tua moorder mah!" "Well, I am sure that it got stuck in your hair or something", Andre replied.

"Yeah, it would definitely get stuck in that lion wig of yours," Lavender muttered, beside her, Erik fought hard not to laugh.

After a whole lot of fussing, and after multiple methods for efficient hairclip remove, the "meeting" ended with Carlotta shaving a large part of her hair off in order to remove her stubborn (and glue-covered) hairclip. During all this, Lavender and Erik were stuffing their fists into their mouths in order to stop a sound from escaping them.

After watching this entertaining "show", Erik and Lavender dashed into the main chamber, where they both burst out laughing. "I wondered how she manage do the flutter-tongue when she was talking," Lavender gasped; after half and hour worth _The truth _of laughing, she was out of breath, "all those 'this sssssssstoooopid hairclip woooold not come ouf! Und heeem trrrried tua moorder mah!'". "That was worth a trick, you have done well!" Erik said, smiling. "Well, she deserved what she got, that toad," Lavender said with a bit of a grin. "Yeah, now go to bed, you have being through a hard time," Erik said. With that, ends the night of fun, and yet, still more to come.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 (truth unmasked)

That night, Lavender could not sleep from all that giggling, though all that excitement, she could feel something bothering her., she thought all of the sudden, and Erik must have known all the truth, about my parents, my past, _and his past_. The next morning, Lavender dressed slowly before going out, only to find Erik working on his new opera. "Erik, I need to know the truth, about my past, and yours," she said. Erik did not turn around. "Hey, Erik?" Lavender tried again, still, Erik ignored her. Getting a little frustrated, she turned to leave, and Erik spoke, "why did you want to know the truth for?"

"Well, I was just baffled after…..after what seemed like 3 months and I still do not know the truth, and how did you come down here and that sorts of things," Lavender shrugged. She noticed that Erik was becoming very restless.

"Sit down, we need to talk, I need you to know the truth," Erik said, before turning to her. He poured out 2 cups of tea before gesturing her towards a nice table (made by Erik himself).

"That was 14, or was it 15 years ago? When you were born, I was about 10 to 11 years old. We were, well, quite a happy family, despite my birth deform. However, after when you were about 5, our parents were killed in an unfortunate accident. They drowned when a boat they were on board capsized in a storm out at sea. Desperate, your grandmother, now dead, I suppose took you in, but she too died after a few months. Then there was this lady who decided to adopt you, but I was not included. In order to get rid of me forever, she sold me to a bunch of gypsies. There I was beaten, starved, and treated in a most cruel way. I had wished to get out, but was unfortunately caught during an attempt. They had being to punish me in a most severe way. It was hell to me until a young girl, who is the present Madam Giry managed to help me escape. She got me to this opera house, where I spent most of my time watching the rehearsals. Somehow, I managed to locate this place when I was playing near the cellar once. There was only a cave then, not furnished. And that was where I began my new life as a phantom of the opera. By the time I was 21, I had began looking for my sister, for I remembered about someone who would sit among the lavenders, and laughing happily while chasing butterflies. However, I could not prove that you exist at first, until I found, in one of my possession, the picture which I showed you on the first day you arrived. I felt angry, at the lady who cut you away from me, and I needed you back, after a long year of searching, I managed to locate where you lived, and where you normally goes. There, Madam Giry found you." There was a long pause. Lavender tried to take all this in one shot, but she could not believe all that her brother said. Within her, there was a mixture of feelings, of shock, and strangely, of rage.

"Why did you not tell me first when I came?" she managed to say after a minute of complete silence.

"Well, I never thought you would believe, so I save it till you are ready, when you are, you deserve to know the truth," Erik replied quietly. "Why? Because I am naïve? Because I am a weak a soul who cannot take sad truths? Is that what you think about me?" Lavender suddenly felt herself on her feet, all the rage towards Erik. "Lavender, calm down, I can explain…" "NO! I do not want any more explanation from you, why is everyone keeping the truth away from me?" Lavender felt her voice rising, ending with a yell. "Lavender, I…" Before Erik could finish his sentence, Lavender had run into her room and slammed the door. Erik heard the lock ticked in her room. I'm sorry, Lavender, he thought sadly, before turning to his room.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 (let it be war upon you both)

The next few days was not nice, Lavender had refused to come out of her room, not even to eat. Erik felt himself growing annoyed, he had to spent long hours outside her room coaxing her to come out, but the answers were negative. On the forth day, Erik could no longer bear to leave her starving in her room; he made his way towards her door.

"Lavender?" he asked, knocking on the door gently.

No answer.

"Lavender, come out!" he tried again. This time, she replied with a weak voice,

"NO!"

"You need to eat! You have not touched any food since 4 days ago!" Erik felt himself growing irritated.

"NO!"

"I repeat, come out!"

"NO!"

"Don't make me burst through this door; you know I am perfectly capable of doing so!"

"I DARE YOU DON'T!"

"LAVENDER!" Erik's once musical voice had risen into a yell. He heard the lock clicked, and Lavender immerged, she glared at Erik.

"Come here," Erik said curtly. Lavender followed him to the same table where the miserable tale had being told. On it was a plate of food; she sat down, stared at the food, but did not feel hungry.

She felt Erik looking at her for a moment. "Eat, you have not tasted food for days, you must be starving," Erik said, in his silky voice. Lavender took one look at it and pushed the plate away.

"You want to kill yourself by starving? Listen, which will not happen to you, I make sure you take the food, you understand?" Erik felt his irritation growing again. Stupid girl! Still, Lavender looked at him with indifference.

"Damn it! Which part of what I said do you not understand?" Erik growled, slamming his fist on the table. Lavender slowly picked up her spoon, took a bite, and dashed into her room. Walking over to his organ, Erik buried his face in his hands; tears began trickling down his face. Lavender, he thought, is it going to be war upon us both?

Back in her room, Lavender began sobbing, she had being to like Erik, until she realised that he had being keeping her away from knowing the truth. How could he? She thought angrily. She heard Erik pulled on his cape, got into his gondola, and went out. What if there is something else that he had being to hide from me? Lavender suddenly thought. She peeped out. After making sure that Erik had definitely went out, she crept to his room.

It was a similar room like hers, just different coloured furniture, and the bed……..was a coffin. Lavender felt her heart stopped. A coffin, Erik had being sleeping in a coffin! Did he expect himself to die any time? Or was he trying to kill himself at times? Dread crawled to her throat. Lavender began touring his room. On his table, she found several pieces of parchments, not music scores, but drawing. They looked strangely lifelike. Erik was a genius, she thought, as she began ruffling through them. She stared at one of them; her entire set of internal organs froze.

She was looking at a real-life like girl with dark, long, and slightly wavy hair; she was wearing a graceful dress, and was staring into the space in a state of grief. Her big eyes were bright green; Erik had painted the picture, but only at the eyes; she had thin arms, and around one of the delicate wrist she wore a bracelet, she looked like Erik, unusually like him. Lavender's heart skipped a beat: it was herself. She opened one of the drawers beside the desk.

She found several figurines, a few other masks, a monkey music box, and…a wedding veil.

Had Erik proposed to anyone? Lavender thought, he sure have, for beneath the wedding veil laid a blue glittering ring. Lavender felt the world collapsed on her. She rushed back to the pictures. There, she found one of the paintings. It was a beautiful girl, with dark, curls and large brown eyes, she looked beautiful, and on one of her fingers, she wore the exact same ring which Lavender found in Erik's drawer. So Erik had being trying to get her to marry him, Lavender thought, then, with a sinking feeling, she knew something at once: Erik had being ditched before. Lavender had never before heard Erik mentioning about anyone whom he had………..wait, or did he? She remembered on her third week, when Erik had being growing irritated at her, she remembered that he had mentioned a girl's name. Lavender tried to recall that name. It was Chri…….Chri something, or was it………..Christine! Christine Daae.

At an instance, Lavender felt a rush of pity towards Erik; he had being living in a world of miseries. He had being sleeping in a coffin, hoping that death would take him away. It was not suppose to work out this way. Desperate, Lavender continued her search, and it was under a whole sheet of paper did she found a strange white powder which was lying in large packets. Heroine, so Erik was an addict. Disgusted, she continued her search, until she felt a strong, talon like grip on her shoulder.

Lavender felt shocked and she cannot help a gasp from escaping from her. She tried to turn around, but the hand on her shoulder forbidden her from doing so. "What, are you exactly doing here in my room?" a voice trimmed with anger came from behind her. "Nothing, just……..looking around," Lavender tried to steady her voice, but still, they came out shakily. "Looking around," the cold, furious voice seemed to be mocking her. "Listen, Erik, would you please remove your hand from my shoulders," Lavender said, biting off every syllable. Then, a rush of colors blinded her as Erik flung her to the ground.

"HOW DARE YOU LOOK INTO MY BUSINESS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?" Erik roared, as Lavender cowered on the ground. She got shakily on her feet, turning to face Erik with fright in her eyes. "HOW DARE YOU! HAVE I EVER LOOKED INTO YOUR STUFF WITHOUT ASKIG YOU?" "Oh, that's because I don't have anything for you to look into," Lavender calmly replied. Erik was so taken aback at her boldness that he did not react. Lavender found her voice again, "So, Erik, I see that you are an addict?" saying, she pointed to the white packets that was still lying in the drawer. "Tell, me, how long have you being one? How long? So you think that not allowing me to come into your room would prevent me from knowing that you are an addict? So you think that hiding that stuff away from me would help you in living?" Lavender found her voice now filled with angst and anger. "How could you do this to yourself? How could you actually……actually tried to kill yourself without thinking that someone standing in front of you needs you right now? How could you?" Lavender's voice rose, but broke in the end.

Erik was so taken aback that once he found his voice again, it was a good one minute. "DAMN IT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" he yelled, before raising a hand to strike the girl. Something in her eyes stopped him. Looking into the almost identical eyes which she possessed, Erik thought he heard a silent signal: Erik, please stop that habit, I love you, and how could you ever do that someone whom you love? It hurts me as much as the heroine had hurt you. The hand that he had raised stopped in mid-air. Lavender took the opportunity to run away from him, to her room.

Once safely inside her room, Lavender broke down. She sobbed into her knees as she sat on the stone hard floor. Erik had being an addict, and that coffin, he had obviously taken large doses of heroine in order to end his life. How could he? Lavender asked herself, how could he? It was not as if there is no more hope left, there is, but he was the one unwilling to accept. Something in Lavender suddenly spoke up: if he can't help himself, you must help him. It was going to be anything but easy, for Erik was like a damp firewood and Lavender a single spark. Somehow, Lavender knew that she had to do something. Throw away the heroine? He would buy some more. Lavender thought hard about this, and did not notice that the door to her room had opened.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 (when sleeping bud burst into bloom)

Damn! I should have locked the door! Lavender thought, as she heard gently footstep approaching her. Trying hard to shed her eyes away from Erik, she curled herself up into a tight ball. Then, she felt Erik's warm arms enveloped her, helping her up.

"I am sorry," Erik's now warm voice came to Lavender's ears. "I was just too overwhelmed by what you said, I did not do that on purpose," Erik felt himself shrinking. "I thought about that, I mean, I can understand that you are shocked, and that I felt ashamed, you are right, I can't just do this to myself", on hearing these, Lavender was shocked. She had known about Erik's personality; he was a bold, daring and challenging person, not easily willing to admit mistakes.

"How long have you being to do this to yourself?" Lavender asked.

"Since she left"

"Christine Daae?"

"Yes"

Turning to face her brother, Lavender wiped a tear from her face. Erik saw that, and he once again placed his arms around her, "I'm sorry, I really am, and thanks for…." He did not finish the sentence.

"Don't worry, I mean, it is just something that happens between siblings often, I have never experienced that before", Lavender said with a bit of a smile. "Still, I cannot accept that you are an addict, can you get off that horrible habit?" she asked again.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Erik said yes. All of a sudden, Lavender felt warmth, flowing through her entire body, as she had, in fact, done a great job in helping Erik. It was like watching a red rose bud refusing to open, until the bit of sunlight, it burst into bloom.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 (killings)

At about 10 miles away from the opera house, something not so nice was going on. It was at the de Chaney's house. There seemed to be war going on in there, as a woman screamed and yelled.

For Christine Daae had being to sing, her husband, Raoul the Vicompte de Chaney denied her, saying that her voices would bring back the monster which had almost killed him. "How could you do that to me, Raoul?" she challenged, tilting her chin upwards. She received a sharp, stunning slap on her delicate cheek.

Since the day she left the phantom, her life had not being better. She had mistaken Raoul; he did not love her. He slapped, beat and abused her, not at all showing love to her like any husbands. Instead, he bossed Christine around like a slave. Not at all treating her like a respectable young bride.

"I never thought you would do this to me, I thought you loved me!" that was what Christine said after a few months in hell. All she got for an answer was a slap. Now as she lay on the ground bleeding, she could not help recoiled in fear as her "husband" walked slowly and threateningly towards her. "W……What are you going to do?" she trembled, aware that Raoul had a length of rope in his hands. "Why? Are you afraid now?" Raoul asked, his eyes dancing with insanity. "I really wanted to do this at first, you are sickening," so saying, he began to tie Christine to a long pillar. With ropes cutting into her arms, Christine began to think that she would have being better off with Erik, though turning back now would be too late. Scared, she could only watch as Raoul produced a large horse cane. She closed her eyes, waiting for the blow, and down it came. Christine cried out in pain as Raoul lashed at her again and again, all the time smirking. Finally, as the last blow fell, Christine whispered, "Erik", before darkness closed in.

Raoul stopped lashing, he looked at his wife. She was motionless. Just passed out, he thought. Striding towards her, he noticed something; Christine was extremely pale, like a ghost. Suddenly scared, he grasped her neck and placed his finger at her nose. No sign of breathing. He stumbled back, panic gripped him; I had killed my wife, I had killed my wife. I was only trying to punish her, I had not tried to kill her, he thought. He had to think fast, before anyone knows. I would dump her somewhere, and pretend that she had fell off over the edge or something.

Carefully, he cleaned up the blood splatters around his wife's body, then, he hitched up a horse cart and carried Christine into it. Silently, he went to a lake right beside his house, there, he tied a weight to her body and lunched her into the cold, icy water. No one would know, he thought, contempt, but he was wrong.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 (Rage)

"ERIK!" Erik was awaken by a scream which echoed from his sister's room. Hurriedly, he put on his cape and was about to rush to her help when his door burst open to reveal Lavender, dressed in her night dress and wearing a coat. She was waving about in the air the morning papers. "ERIK!" she screamed. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. "Erik, someone's killed your Christine…..was that Christine Daae? Or what?" Erik, who was dressing up jumped up and rushed to her side, looking at the paper she was holding.

_Murder found at Moon Bridge:_

_The body of a young woman was found floating face down in the icy water of Moon Bridge, she was identified as Christine Daae, a famous soprano once working in the Opera Populaire. Deep gashed on her body suggested that she had being hacked repeatly with a sharp and heavy object. After several examinations, coroner Jack Honey concluded that she was not killed by drowning. Neighbours of the Vicompte de Chaney said that loud arguments and screaming could be heard coming from the respectable lawns of the household. Interrogation had started this morning with the Vicompte de Chaney himself. Still, many people were suspicious that the legendary Phantom of the Opera is directly responsible for the murder. _

_The morning post. _

Erik felt his stomach recoiled. Christine is dead, someone killed her, yet, they accused HIM! No, there must be a joke; someone printing the paper has gone nuts. They are accusing him! And Christine, no, it cannot be true. Yet, the words were printed black and white right in front of him. Erik felt the familiar rage pumping through his veins. It must be that fop! He thought who killed Christine. He threw the paper onto his bed in one burst of rage, only aware that Lavender was watching him.

"What?" he asked, more gruffly than he wanted.

"Nothing, what are you going to do now?" Lavender asked, corking her head one side.

"I'm going to go after that fop, make sure he pays a price," growled Erik.

"You don't have any evidence that he killed her, do you? After all, even the police do not know, you cannot just make any assumption," Lavender said slowly.

"She was found dead in a lake just outside his damned house, what other evidence could I make?" Erik asked, turning to face his sister.

"Why don't you just go and look for clues? Handling him to be dealt with by the authorities would be a more civilized way to take revenge," Lavender said. She's right, something in Erik's head said, she is right, you should not just go bursting into their house killing Raoul, you have no proofs. "Fine, I will go do what you said, now, stay here, and don't wander about, I don't want to return your back here with a bullet wound or something, and it is too dangerous. Promise me you will stay?" Erik said. Lavender nodded.

A while later, Erik was hitching up his precious black horse, Cedar. He had asked for the address to the Vicompte de Chaney's household. In a blink of an eye, he was gone, rage propelling him forward.

Laying on her bed, reading, Lavender could not help but worry about Erik. He was going to put himself into great danger! She thought. Suddenly, she sat up in bed. What if Raoul had put this up in order to tempt the Phantom into his trap? Maybe it was Erik whom he wanted to kill. Panic gripped Lavender's heart. No, she must go with Erik, in case anything happened, she would tail him, and if something did happened, she would be able to return back here for help.

Shakily, she pulled on her cape. Suddenly, she realised that she did not have a horse to ride. Damn! She thought, as she rounded a corner, she saw a beautiful white pony, right next to an empty stable which belonged to Cedar. Overjoyed, she climbed onto the horse back (with much difficulties), and was off.

It was a long journey, as Madam Giry had predicted, but Lavender just kept going. It was an icy morning, with strong gale blowing in her face, but the prospect of helping her beloved brother pushed Lavender on. After what seemed like an hour after riding, she saw Erik in front, hiding in a bush, his back towards her. He did not know about Lavender's approach yet. Erik seemed to be looking through the bush at something, Lavender looked his way, and saw the Vicompte house.

It was a nice place, with beautifully maintained lawn and a large, white, church-looking house in the middle. It seemed too out of place for a murder. Silently, Lavender tied her pony to a nearby tree, careful not to tread on any dried leaves. She had bought along her bow and arrows, just in case. She waited, behind her pony, for something to happen. Half an hour, then and hour passed, still, Erik did not seemed to be reacting. Then, she saw him crept out of the bushes and into the lawn. With quickening heart, she followed; she saw Erik sprinting through the lawns and hid behind a large statue.

Trying to catch up with the agile man in front, Lavender clutched at a stitch as she too, followed the phantom; however, she stopped about 10 metres away. She saw Erik unsheathed his sword. What is Erik taking out his sword for? Lavender thought, puzzled, but she did not need to ask, for the answer was just in front of her.

Several burly looking men rushing towards Erik, wielding their weapons, which were made up of pistols and swords. There must had being about a dozen of them, all dressed in well-respectable clothing.

From all Lavender could see of her brother's face, it was set in a determined and menacing smirk. She, however, was scared. What if he could not fight them all? Lavender decided to remain hidden, may be when the time comes, she could be of a help.

As the crowd of men rounded on Erik, Lavender had squeezed herself into a bush, and was watching the horrifying scene. Erik was obviously very good at sword, for he was able to make his way easily and lazily through the huge wave of armed people. All was well until a tall, putty man with a goatee struck Erik unconscious with his horse whip like weapon. In front of her eyes, Erik fell to the ground, with blood gushing out of his head. There was yelling of triumphant from the bunch of hooligans.

They all looked at Erik, who was slowly getting to his feet. With a large crack of whip, Erik was down again. However, being a tough person to defeat, Erik tried, once again to stand up. Lavender could no longer watch this awful scene anymore. Bracing herself, she strolled out of the bush. She stayed hidden, however. Wiping a sharp arrow out, she positioned it on the bow. Taking a careful aim at one of them, she let go, and struck the man square in the chest. With a cry of pain, the victim collapsed.

There was panic gripping the pack of wolves. Lavender saw them make a quick decision, one of them stayed to watch over Erik, while the other would clean up the body and call for more backup. Great, the lesser the better, thought Lavender, before positioning another arrow.

Erik was laying on the grass, barely conscious. He raised his head a quarter of an inch. He eased his arms and tried to sit up. What's going on? He thought, he could only remember fighting his way through the human wave before one of them knocked him out with his weapon. He felt the man standing above raised his weapon with a sneer. Bracing himself for the stroke, Erik gripped his sword. But the stroke never came, for there was a rush of something above Erik's head and the man was lying on the grass, with blood pouring out of his chest, with a familiar arrow pierced at the wound.

Lavender dashed out from her hiding place and helped Erik up.

"What? You are not supposed to be here! What did I tell you about not coming out?" Erik spat angrily.

"Yeah? Like as if you were able to fight that pack of monsters yourself!" Lavender replied.

"Come on! We need to get back to the opera house before anyone comes!" they ran through the yard towards where the horses were waiting.

Within a minute, they were galloping their way back to their home.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 (Touch)

By the time they reached the opera Populaire, Erik was barely conscious. Putting most of his weight on Lavender, they staggered back to Erik's lair. Lavender wondered why Erik did not build the passageway shorter, or maybe there was a short-cut which they could take, for she was panting under Erik's weight. Once home, she helped Erik onto her own bed.

She found, in Erik's room a pail of warm water, and a towel which she carried back to her room. Carefully, she dapped the deep wound on Erik's head, before bandaging firmly to stop the blood flow. Erik looked pale, almost like a living dead. His hands were clammy and cold, despite the fire in Lavender's room.

God knows what would have happened to him if I had not being around! Lavender thought, true, if she had not fired those arrows, Erik would have being dead under the blows of the canes. 

Throughout the whole day, she stayed by her brother's side, all the time making sure that the temperature was suitable. She could not remember when did she last got hungry again, and so the two days past with her not even taking a single bite.

Finally, on the third day, Lavender raised her weary head just in time to see Erik's eye leads fluttered open. He groaned. "Where…on earth am I?" he asked, seeing he tangled in layers of lavender colored blankets. "Lavender gave a sigh of relief "Thank goodness! How are you feeling?"

Erik frowned, he felt angry, angry at himself, angry at Lavender. Why must she find him in such a state? Why is she helping him? It should be the other way round. Still, he could not help but feel thankful for her care. His head hurt, he raised his hand and felt bandages. Not good, he thought. "How long have I being unconscious?" he asked, "Not for long, three days," replied Lavender. "Three days?" Erik could barely believe. It's just a cane on his head, but three days?

His gaze traveled to Lavender's face. She looked gaunt, pale, and looked tired.

"Have you taken any food?" he asked.

"N-Yes", Lavender changed it mid-way, not wanting Erik to feel anymore anxious about her anymore.

"Have you being taking a rest?"

"N-yes".

"Yes or no? I don't want mid-way answers"

"N-yes"

Erik sighed, his sister was lying, he knew. Funny girl, he thought. Most girls eat when they were angry or sad or anything but happy. However, Lavender, on the other hand starves herself whenever she feel angst, which did not prove to be a very efficient way to solve her problem. There was no wonder that she looked skinny.

Erik carefully got to his feet and fetched a tray of food, he placed it in front of Lavender. "Eat, you need to eat, not eating for three days would not help with your growth". Lavender hesitated, before taking the tray from Erik. "What about you?" she asked. Erik shrugged, "I don't eat lunch". There was long moment of silence, as Lavender poked at her roasted potatoes. "Hey, stop playing with that damned piece of food," Erik said, frowning. Lavender ignored him, while continuing abusing the food.

Erik rested his head on the pillow, aware of the aching at the back. He was careful with every step he took; for Lavender had warned him that any huge movements and the wound might just open again. Lavender had hardly eaten half of the food on the plate when she looked up, and saw her brother had fallen asleep again. Quietly, she placed the tray of food back onto the table before her gaze fell back on Erik again. She felt pained to see him helpless like that, yet sorry all the same.

At night, Erik began tossing and turning in bed, occasionally moaning, which hinted nightmares. In order to calm her brother, Lavender tenderly placed her hand on his wrist. At this, he quiet down, and fell back asleep.

In the morning, when Erik once again awoke, he was not surprised to find Lavender slumped on the edge of her bed, eyes barely open. She must have being exhausted, he thought. It does not need a sharp-eye person to see the dark rings around both eyes of the girl. "You may want your bed back," Erik said, trying to get to his feet. "No, take your rest, don't worry about me, I am fine, don't worry," Lavender muttered, so weak that she could hardly raise her head. 

This went on for a few days, until Erik was well enough to get up, Lavender had fallen dangerously ill from all the lack of sleep and malnutrition. Still, she forced herself to get up every morning to have her breakfast with Erik and watch him practice archery or composing.

One morning, Lavender's body gave in; she collapsed half way while Erik was playing on the organ. With a cry, Erik almost dropped to his knees. He carefully lifted the unconscious girl to her room. He felt her forehead; it was roasting. Should he go to Madam Giry for help? He was not good at curing fevers, but he did not want Madam Giry to accuse him of not taking care of Lavender. It was my entire fault; he thought angrily, if not for him getting hit, Lavender would never have to kneel beside him and take care of him and tiring herself out.

He sat by Lavender's bedside throughout the whole day, but he occasionally get up and take something to eat. Two days after, Lavender's eyes fluttered open. "Where…..where am I?" she asked, her voice still weak with fever and her eyes red. "It's okay now, I am here, don't worry, just rest, you tired yourself out by taking care of me too hard, now it is my turn for return", Erik said gently, dabbing her forehead with a cool cloth. Lavender remembered being so sick that she could no longer focus, then, she had fainted before she hit the ground.

"Sing to me, Erik, please, I missed your voice so much," Lavender begged. Erik smiled at the childish smile on her face before starting to sing:

No one would listen,

No one but her, heard as the outcast hears

Shunned into solitude,

Shammed by the multitude,

I learnt to listen,

In my heart, I heard music.

I longed to teach the world,

Rise up and reach the world

No one would listen,

No one but her, heard as the outcast hears

Then a voice cried out in the gloom,

Seemed to say, I hear you.

I hear your fears,

Your torment and your tears

She saw my loneliness,

Shed in my emptiness,

No one would listen,

No one but her, heard as the outcast hears.

Lavender looked up at her brother's face. "Is the 'her' me?" she asked, curiously. Erik nodded, before saying: "you are the only one who had being to listen to my music, only one." Somehow, in that bright green eyes looked clouded with tears. Lavender patted the back of Erik's hand reassuringly.

"Before you, were Christine, my music was only appreciated in a few second on Don Juan Triumphant, but you are the only one who would listen to it without complaint." Erik said quietly. His eyes felt hot, and it was only a few seconds later did he realised that tears were brimming in his eyes. Hastily, he wiped them away. "You need rest", he mumbled trying to hide his embarrassment. He suddenly felt something cold upon his wrist; he looked up to see Lavender placing a hand his arm. There was something in that smile which made Erik felt warmth and comfort. Gently, he tucked her into the bed before switching off the light. Once outside the room, Erik the Phantom of the Opera broke down.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 (her second prank)

Lavender awoke early that morning. The night before, she had formed a perfect plan in her mind; she is going to tackle the toad Carlotta again. She remembered how her brother had laughed with joy the day when she successfully subdued Carlotta by the glue-clip trick, well; she was going to do that again that day. Carlotta recently had the interest of wearing tight corsets, so Lavender had decided to not get her wear that thing again forever. That morning, she went down to the lake, took a net, and began fishing for frogs. She had heard some of them croaked before she fell asleep. She was lucky, within an hour; she had fished up a huge, slimy toad. It was hideous, and matched, Carlotta well. Quietly, Lavender placed it into her bag, careful to give it some air for survival. She thought Erik did not know, but in fact, he did.

Erik had awoken up about the same time as Lavender, and as he was about to go into the main chamber when he saw, through a crack in the door, Lavender with a net in her hand fishing for frogs. He remembered promising to take Lavender up to the opera house again. Quietly, he closed the door again.

After breakfast, Lavender and Erik put on their capes, and went up to Carlotta's dressing room. Erik moved the mirror aside to let Lavender past. She carefully took the corset-of-the-day and placed the toad into it. She tiptoed her way back to Erik. "Well done," he mouthed. With tension lodged hearts they watched and waited.

A while later, footsteps could be heard coming from the outside. Carlotta stormed in, she was wearing the opera's costume, which she roughly thrown aside again. She leaned towards a mirror with her body covered from Lavender's and Erik's view. After a few impatiently waiting moment, Lavender and Erik saw her scraggy hand shot out and grabbed her corset. There was a moment of silence. Then………

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!?! PPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGIIIIIIIII!"

The door burst open

"What is it, my dear?"  
"A tord!"

"A WHAT?"  
"A TORD! YOR IDIOT! A TORD!"

From behind the mirror, both Lavender and Erik watched, fascinated, as the grumpy looking face of the toad was peeking out from the back of Carlotta, who was screaming her head off. Piangi, who obviously did not understand what his wife was trying to tell him, ran for help. After a few moments, Madam Giry, Andre and Firmin appeared. "What's going on?" Andre asked, puzzled.

"A TORD!"

"A what?"

"A TORD!"

"A what?"

"A TORD! MORON!"

"Oh, she meant a toad," said Madam Giry, who suddenly turned towards the mirror. "Someone's going to get caned".

"I don't know how did the toad got here but honestly, someone IS going to get caned", Firmin said very firmly.

"Uh-oh," Lavender muttered.

They left Carlotta screaming and yelling and trying to get the "tord" out of her corset.

Somehow, and strangely, this incident did not seem to hook laughter from Erik. Lavender felt like a failure; why had I not succeed? She thought. That night, as she got into bed, she quietly turned down the light and started reading a book. It was very cold that night, and the blanket did not serve much warmth. Lavender shivered. She was reading a book based on Rome history, as a gruesome picture of a bloody war was unfolded to her, Lavender could feel darkness slipping by. The cold that she caught from overworking was coming back. She could feel it. There was a loud thud on the floor as the book slide from her white fingertips.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 (warmth)

Lavender's eyes suddenly opened. She realised, for an instant, was not in her own room. She could no longer detect a faint lavender smell and of spring, instead, all around her was a familiar scent: roses. She tried to sit up, but found her arms tangled in layers and layers of black blanket, though tight, they were warm, Lavender could no longer feel the stabbing cold anymore. She tried to sit up.

"You are awake?" a kind voice said beside her. Lavender sprung around. It was Erik, resting his head against the head of the bed, a pillow beneath his head. He was dressed, as Lavender realised for one moment no longer the black, formal suite anymore, but in a simple white shirt which opens slightly at the front. He looked at her, concerned. "I was getting worried about the temperature, so I took you to my room," he said quietly.

Lavender suddenly sat up straight, "Oh my god, am I sleeping in a coffin?" she asked. No! Not me! She thought, I still want to live!

"No, you are not, since the day you, er, budged into my room, I had thrown it away," Erik said reassuringly.

Lavender relaxed. To her, a coffin stood for a symbol of death, a symbol of dread, and now, the symbol was gone. "Are you hungry?" Erik asked, though he was sure of the answer. "No," he was right; Lavender denied food, once again.

"What's on your mind?" he asked gently.

"Why did you-nothing," Lavender had stopped herself, but caused Erik to raise an eyebrow.

"Something's on your mind obviously, come on, don't be afraid to tell, I am your brother, not a monster," Erik paused, he was not entirely correct, he had being called a monster several times in his life. Lavender slid off the bed, before starting to her room.

"Wait," Erik tried to stop her, but with a graceful swish, her long, elegant dress had slipped out of sight. Erik lay back in bed. Her knew, that he must help Lavender, but how? She was not the open sort of girl, instead, she would keep all the miseries and angst to herself. She was not trying to bother Erik, but Erik knew, that if the miseries were not revealed, she would be mentally destroyed one day. Sadly, Erik closed his eyes and went back to sleep, completely aware of the soft sobbing coming from his sister's room.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 (Christmas: a spark in the night)

For the next few weeks, the outside weather grew freezing cold, but in the lair, it was worse. Lavender had to wear a coat every time she came out of her room. Erik, however, wore the same everyday. Whether was it a thin, white sleeve shirt or the 'formal suit', he always greet the appearance of Lavender with a warm smile. Then, one day, Lavender could stand it no longer.

"Erik, do you mind if you were to take me up to the opera house roof?" she asked on morning at breakfast. Erik glanced up.

"Why yes, I suppose, but it is going to be cold," he said, pulling on his cape. A few minutes later, they were rowing in their own separate gondolas (Lavender had finally mastered how to row the tiny boat after a three week lesson from Erik).

They climbed the steep steps in silent. As Erik flung open the door to let Lavender through first, the answer to a freezing lair came. The entire roof-top was covered with a thick layer of snow, and more were falling from the sky. As Lavender gazed up at the dark-grey clouds above, she could not express a sob. This was similar to the day when her parents died.

She suddenly felt someone's hand, warm and firm on her shoulder. She turned and flung herself into Erik's arms, sobbing onto his shoulders. She felt warm, as Erik placed his arms around Lavender. It was a moment when she felt that she was at home. At last. They were in the position for awhile, until Erik quietly guided Lavender to the edge of the roof.

"Look, Lavender, look," he cooed lovingly. Lavender lifted her tear-stained face up. She gasped.

The entire town was unfolded below her like rows of ginger-bread house covered in thick white icing. There were lesser people bustling around, buying cakes, and Christmas necessaries. Christmas was coming. In the center of the town, there was an enormous Christmas tree, decorated with brilliant candles. Sweet Christmas carols found their way into Lavender's ears. She took a deep breath.

It was a similar day like this, when she remembered, in a child's mind as she watched her real parents rolling dough ready for a ginger bread house made for her and Erik. Both of her parents were smiling, a holiday mood smile. She remembered how she would sit upon the stool near the window and watch the snow beating thick and heavy against the window, and how she would be surrounded by Christmas presents and a warm, loving fire. These flash-backs made her want to cry again, but she bit back her tears.

Gazing at the Christmas tree, Lavender remembered how their house was too, decorated with a tree. It was lovely, with thousands of candles lit. She would sit in front of the tree and stare and stare at them. When one of them went out, she would cry and mother would light it again. However, her grandmother had once told her, that a candle dying equals to a man on earth dying, and that was the main reason of her crying when a candle was extinguished. Now, no more of such tales and comfort. Lavender with a suddenly realization that she was then an orphan.

However hard she could, she could not fight back the tears that was tricking down her cheek. Erik warmly brushed away Lavender's tears for her with his gloved hand. He could understand how she was feeling right now. When their parents died, Erik had, too, cried and mourned for them. Now, watching Lavender's tears falling silently, he felt as though someone's ripped a gash in his heart.

"Lavender, let's go back, I have a surprise for you," he said lightly, before putting his arm around Lavender's thin shoulders. Lavender did not resist, instead, she allowed herself to be steered away by Erik.

Once inside the lair, Erik dashed into his room and took out a medium sized box. Gently, he gave it to Lavender. "Don't shake it," he warned, remembering how Lavender would shake the present vigorously in order to guess what was in the present.

Lavender took the present. It jumped, so did Lavender. She stared up at her brother, demanding to know what was in the box when a small whine could be heard coming from the box. Almost too carefully, Lavender lifted the top of the present and peered inside. She gasped.

It was a puppy, a real, living bouncing puppy. It was a collie, with thick, shiny fur in a mixture of chocolate brown, white, and black. On seeing Lavender, it barked happily, jumping into her arms. Lavender's eyes grew as round as marbles.

In a corner, Erik smiled to himself as he saw the excited look on his sister's face. Girls, he thought, are all the same. He had found the puppy on the streets, obviously wandered out of a newly born little. He took it back just yesterday, knowing what a great Christmas present it would make.

Lavender lifted the wriggling puppy up to her face. It stared at her with its big, watery eyes.

"Bailey," Lavender suddenly whispered. "Your name is Bailey," she said again.

"Nice name," Erik said suddenly. Lavender looked up to see that Erik was smiling.

"Thank you so much," Lavender said softly.

"You are welcome, I thought that a puppy might come in useful for you," Erik shrugged.

That day, Lavender spent the day playing her flute in the main chamber. The puppy watched her every move with its big, adorable eyes, all the while sitting in beside her. Erik would listen hard to Lavender's playing, his hands on the organ, posed but not playing. He could hear the soft, melodious sound of the flute. Sometimes, he would even look at his sister and marvel at how well she could play. Lavender would stand up straight, put the score at an acceptable level, and put her flute up, before making the music soft as velvet.

On the night of Christmas, Lavender sat down quietly in her room, reading a book when the door to her room was opened.

"Hey, nothing to be afraid of, I am just bringing you your supper, its Christmas," Erik's voice floated over the thick volume to Lavender's ears. She looked up. Erik set the tray down, before turning to Lavender, "What was that book about?" he asked.

"Nothing, just some…..some archery and swords stuff, you know," Lavender shrugged.

"It seems that you are pretty obsessed with archery and swords," Erik asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I am extremely interested in such things, though I am a girl," Lavender blushed. She was never thought to be a very boyish girl at home, but in her, she secretly admired the fighters on war, wielding swords and arrows, which was when she started practicing archery herself. Swords? It was a pity no one would teach her.

Is it possible for me to learn swords? She thought, but to her horror, she had voiced it aloud. Erik looked amused.

"You want to learn that? I can teach you, though," Erik said. Lavender could hardly believe her ears, her dream was about to come true.

"Oh! Yes, please, that would be great!" Lavender said, with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Well, if you want to learn about swords, you need plenty of rest tonight," Erik said, before tucking her into bed.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 (Ice and swords)

The next morning was as cold as the night before. However, a desire burned inside Lavender. She could hardly swallow a mouthful before putting her fork down. "Eat, you need energy for later," said Erik across the table, but Lavender had already stood up.

"I wonder if the lair is big enough," she asked suddenly.

"No, we are not going to practice in my cave, we are going out." Said Erik, folding up his napkin.

"Where?" "You will see later"

After a few minutes, Erik had hitched up both of their horses, Cesar and Snowball, (Lavender had named her white pony because of it matching color to the snow). She also had with her a sword of her own. It was a beautiful one too, well-polished. Erik had shown her how to tie it around her waist, before they both sped off into the early morning, spraying up morning dew as they went.

Lavender could tell that they were riding across the country, for when the sun was up, they stopped riding. Snowball was tired out, she was only a pony.

"Hey, Erik, can we stop for awhile? Snowball is tired," Lavender called up to the tall black, hooded figure up ahead.

"Just another ten minutes!" he yelled behind his back.

Stroking Snowball's hair slowly, Lavender could hear the horse gave a snort of disapprove. After a whole twenty minutes, Erik finally came to a stop. He spun around to make sure that Lavender was following.

"Put your horse here," he instructed. After they got the beasts tied to a tree, they walked across the thick bushes to a clear area. Lavender gasped.

They were standing on a small mountain overlooking the entire Paris. Lavender could see the towering tower of the Opera Populaire, there was lesser gale up there, but the ground was covered by a fine layer of thin ice. The sky was a light grey, which promised more snow later. Lavender took a deep breath in, she grinned.

"How is it?" Erik asked.

"It is beautiful! Where did you find it here?"

"I was with the carnival last time, they came here, and it used to be their camping area," Erik's voice was bitter, spiked with gourd.

"Let's go on with our lesson," Erik continued, pulling his sword out from its sheath.

Lavender cautiously pulled the deadly weapon out, Erik cut in, "You must learn how to pull out your sword fast, the enemy would not wait for you to wipe it out slowly before you duel."

Lavender tried to pull it out quickly, but the sword was heavy and she small; before she knew, she had ripped a slit in her coat. Erik chuckled.

"Not so skilled, are you?" he asked.

"It is my first time," Lavender replied, trying to cover up the rip, her face growing red with embarrassment.

"Okay, now, try to wipe you sword outwards, not inwards, to reduce the chance of slicing yourself," Erik demonstrated, Lavender gaped as he did it smoothly. After hours of correcting and demonstration, Erik finally got Lavender to pull out her sword neatly without ripping any more holes in her clothes.

"Secondly, remember, when an enemy approach you, do not judge the distance too carelessly. He is always closer than you think he is," Erik said. "And remember, always attack than dodge, once locked in a duel, try not to defend yourself, you will end up killed, prevention is always better than healing," Erik continued.

After many hours during which Erik taught Lavender different movements and after narrowing dodging accidental thrusts from Lavender, he was satisfied that Lavender got at least the basics right. They both rode back to the opera house, relieved that the morning had not being wasted.

Lavender collapsed in exhaustion after reaching home, but Erik, after years of experience had plenty of energy left. He turned to his new opera. Both of their swords were left leaning on the wall. Erik took a quick look at them before turning his eyes back to the mounds of complicated notes and octaves.

Before long, he knew that his sister would grow up, just like him.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 (flowers in the sun)

The next few days, new schedules started for both of them. Lavender would get up extremely early, ride her horse to the country border, pick some roses and lavenders, and then proceed back to the opera house to make breakfast. Erik would wake up later, open his eyes and smell bacons and bread sizzling in hot frying pans. They would breakfast together, and then go on ahead with their archery, swords practices. Every other day, Erik would give Lavender singing lessons. Thanks to her brother, Lavender could now sing like a winter lark. However, there was something else that Lavender had being secretly admiring Erik about: writing operas.

She was given thousands of sheets of paper, which she was working on right now. She would sit hours in front of her piano, trying to get the words into shape and bland in with an opera. She had really much wanted to write an opera about Erik's history, so that the public would know about the opera ghost, but thought about it later, deciding best not to tell; the mob would have Erik's blood within a second.

She decided to write a beautiful opera, something about flowers. After working for two hours, she managed to come up with a song: flower in the sun.

It just takes a tear,

To raise you,

Yet you are such a miracle.

A flower in the sun

Sun would be your mother,

While rain would be otherwise.

But what I cherished most

Is your spirits, your spirits

One could be another,

Yet no one could be you.

For you are the one the only,

The flower in the sun

Shading away in the darkness,

With no light and tears,

To guide you

Yet through some miracles,

You survived this harsh world, this harsh world.

Blooming in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

With no one to hold on to

With inner beauty that shone in my heart.

When daylight finally comes,

And bathed you in a rain of gold

In sunlight you shone

Wish I can bring you home,

And be a part of me

A part of me,

Flower in the sun.

Lavender was really proud, but she still could not find the courage to approach Erik and show him the piece. He would probably laugh his head off, she thought. How could an expert composer like Erik appreciate her piece? Lavender kept the piece on top of her piano, underneath a lot of other music, written by Erik, but on that particular day, she forgot about the hiding.

Erik wandered into Lavender's room that day, bringing her lunch on a tray. He found the room empty, with only a few sheets of music laying on the piano. He set down the lunch tray, and walked over to the bench. There, lying on the smooth black bench was a completely unfamiliar piece of music, hand-written on the bench. Erik picked it up. Flower in the sun, the title said. His sister had written it, obviously. He proceeded to try it.

As the first few lines were played, Erik began to realize that he was not the only composer in the opera house. Lavender's music played in his ears, dancing across the room. Erik could not resist the urge anymore. He sang a few lines, not at all noticing the figure standing at the door way.

"You saw that?" a timid voice came across the room, cutting across the soft gentle music from the piano. Erik looked up.

"Oh, it's you. This music, did you write that?" Erik asked, though he knew what answer he would be getting.

"Yeah, I did, it took me days," Lavender said slowly.

"It is beautiful," Erik said, nodding "why did you not tell me that you can write songs?"

"I planned to write an opera, but realised that I was not up to standard", Lavender sighed. Erik thought about that for awhile, "I cannot teach you how to write operas, there is no technique in that. You have to do that yourself."

"I am not asking you to teach me, but I just….." Lavender gagged. She HAD wanted Erik to teach her writing operas, but could not bring herself into it. She could imagine thousands of people applauding for Erik's opera. What's even better, Erik told her of performing in his own opera; emit all the brilliant candle lights.

She knew that working on an opera and giving it to the manager and demanding for them to cast it was simple, if Erik was around. But the only thing which was bothering her was the fact of not writing a good opera.

Erik suddenly chuckled, "thinking of writing an opera and casting it?" Lavender jumped.

"How did you know?" Lavender gasped. Erik shrugged, "Mind-reading does not always belongs to the gypsies". Erik walked over and placed his hand on Lavender's shoulder.

"I believe that you can, you have written such a beautiful song, surely a few more would not mind?" Erik almost whispered. Lavender nodded.

For the next few weeks, Lavender worked endlessly on her opera, Erik often came in to take a look at her progress. Before long, the entire opera was written, thanks to Erik's help.

That night, Lavender was almost asleep when Erik came into her room. He sat down on her bed.

"Well, how is it? My little composer?" he asked. Lavender smiled.

"Do you want me to hand the opera to the managers so that they would be able to cast it?" he asked again.

"Yes, please, I would very much like to see my work on the stage", Lavender whispered.

"Very well, give me the opera now, I am going to edit it a bit, make it nicer then I am going tonight," Erik said, rising from the bed.

"The scores are on the piano," Lavender said, before closing her eyes. Erik collected the scores then looked at his sister. She looked beautiful, with her eyes closed and her dark hair spread across her pillow. She looked like an angel. Quietly so as to not wake his angle, Erik went out.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 (a new opera)

A loud scream was heard the next morning above the peace home of Erik's. A maid, cleaning the manager's office had found a leather port-folio containing a thick stack of scores with a note from the Opera Ghost. The managers rushed in, looking annoyed.

"What the heck is your problem, lady?" a short, putty-neck man, Andre said.

"Your scream is enough to wake the people from their beds!" yawned another, a tall, balding guy, Firmin.

"Oh, misters, I did not wished to wake you from your dreams, just this morning, I found a letter from a man whom we all believed to be dead". The cleaning lady said, holding a laced kerchief to her mouth.

"What nonsense! The Phantom Of The Opera! He is already dead!" Andre yelled.

The lady took out the folio and the note, "this was sent to you, monsieur,"

The managers took out the note from the notorious envelope with the evil post-mark of the phantom; a blood red wax skull.

With shaking voice, Firmin read out the letter.

_Firmin,_

_I would like to remind you that the opera is still under my control. Whichever opera which you are going to film must be screened by me before you even cast it. I would like to remind you about Joseph Buquet's death before any of my orders are disobeyed. The folio which contains the precious opera written by my sister is to be cast by next June; any orders disobeyed would result in serious consequences. I would like to recommend the main character sung by Meg Giry, if you don't mind. _

_I would see that my orders are obeyed. Be reminded that my salary is due next week._

_Your faithful servant,_

_O.G._

There was a moment of silent.

"Oh my god, he HAS returned!" Andre gasped. Firmin only stared. Shakily, they opened the folio for a better look.

Inside were a dozen thick, complicated looking notes. It was written in lavender colored pen ink. There was a title above all the notes: Flower in the sun.

"Since when did the phantom have a sister?" Firmin asked suddenly. Andre shrugged. "I have never heard Madam Giry talking about him having a sister at all. What is all this nonsense" Firmin said again. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Andre called behind his back. In came Madam Giry. She peered at the letter in Firmin's hand.

"Ah, I see you've got one too," she said an almost cheerful way.

"What's there to celebrate about?" Andre growled.

"Well, for one thing, we now have an opera to cast instead of just using the ballerina as an entertainment, they are now getting sick of being stared at in their raunchy costumes." Madam Giry shrugged.

"Well, your daughter has being asked to play the diva, is that why you are being so cheerful today?" Firmin asked suspiciously.

"What? Meg Giry? You are joking," so saying, Madam Giry snatched the note away from the manager.

"Well, after reading it you should have agreed with me that the letter is a hoax and the scores are just a copy of some other's opera," Firmin spat.

"Yeah, we are sure this is some kind of joke. Since when does the opera ghost have a sister? When even she is, how is it that she can write out such a complicated opera?" Andre asked, wiping his bow nervously.

"Guys, you can rest be assured that he has a sister, for sure. The glue pin of Carlotta and the frog-in-the-corset are all the tiny tricks played by Er-phantom's sister. As for the scores, I believe that Er-phantom helped her with it," Madam Giry said in a commanding tone.

"Well, we could not cast that!" Andre said, staring blankly at the scores.

"Well, then I can tell you now, unless you cast this opera, or you be bankrupted. I can assure you that this is a good opera, for sure. The opera ghost will never write a bad opera. If you refuse to cast it, I can dismiss all the ballet girls and remove the entire cast set from this opera house," madam Giry sniffed. We swept swiftly from the room and out of sight.

Andre looked at Firmin.  
"Well, I guess that we will have to cast it?" Firmin gulped.

Andre sighed, "Well, so long our cunning friend does not become the next Mozart".


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 (shadows and tragedy)

For the next few weeks and months, the entire opera house was focused on the new opera. Meg was the most hardworking, as she practiced days and nights on her voice and dance moves. Very soon, she could sing as well as Christine, without anyone teaching.

One day before the actually opera, Lavender was extremely excited. "Just imagine, Erik," she said cheerfully, "that there would be many people performing in our opera!"

"No, angle, not ours, the entire opera is yours," Erik smiled, while polishing his sword.

"Not without some help from you," Lavender grinned. Erik had demanded the managers safe the best seat, seat 5 for the two of them. This way, Lavender would be able to have a clear view of her hard work.

As the excitement was below, tension was above. While most people are doing what Erik instructed them to, a small portion of them were not. Raoul had returned in order to help the managers trap the phantom and his legendary 'sister'. He had stationed police all around the threatre, near box 5. The gates were barred once the audience had filled up the opera house. The chandelier was secured more firmly on the ceiling. The Vicompte was clean of the murder, and all charge against him had being dropped, so on hearing that the phantom had sent another opera, he rushed here in order to set what's right.

No audiences were allowed near box 5, as the torches were lit for the opera. Police had stationed themselves everywhere, it was almost impossible for a fly to get pass without being shot. Very soon, the time came for the opera.

The first scene started with Meg singing Lavender's first creation. It was really well written, thought Lavender as she and Erik sat at box 5, looking at Lavender's creation, oblivious to all the watchful eyes below. They were so attracted to the opera that they did not hear the Vicompte was creeping up towards them with a knife in one hand.

Lavender was watching the most exciting part of the opera when she saw a blinding flash of silver and someone pushing her out of its way as it came hurtling down towards her.

The next moment, she was lying on the carpet floor of box 5. She could hear commotions going on beside her. As she opened her eyes wide, she could make out the tall form of Erik battling a blonde man. He had shoulder long hair, which stood out prominently against his suit of dark brown. Erik, in Lavender's mind seemed to be using all of his energy against the blonde guy.

There was venom dripping in her brother's eyes as Lavender caught a flitting peep of the sea of green. The intruder delivered a painful punch to Erik's head, knocking him senseless.

Suddenly, the blonde guy turned on his right and started towards Lavender, his knife poised and ready. Lavender was so frightened that she could not scream, and could only watch helplessly as the mad-man approached her. When he was about 5 feet away, Lavender shed her eyes with her arm, waiting for the overwhelming pain which was about to happen.

It never did, for a second later there was a yell of surprise and horror. Lavender forced her eyes open a quarter, to find Erik back on his feet again. The blonde had a thick rope around his neck, cutting off his air supply and it wasn't long before he collapsed onto the floor. There was chaos as the audiences tried to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

Lavender felt the darkness pulling her down, but felt a pair of strong arms encircling her, lifting her up from the ground. The only thing she could remember seeing was Erik's handsome face contorted with worry and hurt looking down at her before she passed out.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 (don't leave me)

When Lavender awoke, she felt as though her entire body was trapped by the glacier. Though she could hear the cheerful flames crackling in the room, she still felt as though she had being soaked in a tubful of ice. She tried to sit up, but was unsuccessful as thousands of layers of tangled sheets were enveloping her, restricting her movements.

Lavender opened her eyes, gazing upward at the ceiling; she was back at Erik's lair. She heard a towel being soaked in a basin of water, sure enough, a moment later; she felt a warm, soothing damp towel being pressed gently to her forehead. She could smell a faint scent of roses. Feeling contented, she closed her eyes again.

"How are you feeling?" the ever so familiar voice of Erik floated to her, she tried to sit up once more, but felt Erik pushing her back onto the bed.

"Rest, you need some rest," the voice was firm now, almost commanding.

"W...What happened?" Lavender stuttered, gazing around. Her eyes focused on Erik. One look at him would have tell her that he had being through a tough fight with the blonde guy; his evening suite was ripped in several places. There was a wide gash on his shoulder as the knife found the wound. There was a deep cut above his eye brow; still, there was a look of concern in the eyes.

Lavender could not help but gasp.

"Oh dear, what happened?" she said, hardly able to control the tears pouring out.

Erik quickly tried to cover his injuries, but was too late.

"Oh, well, that man was strong, he had a knife and I just strangled him in the end. But he, well, did some damage though," Erik said calmly.

Lavender reached forward to wipe a strand of hair from her brother's face. He hissed with pain. Lavender withdrawn.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I did not……I mean, I forgot," Lavender apologized. Erik waved her apologize aside.

"Don't apologize, you are not at fault. I did not know that the managers would be acting against my orders, they would have to pay," Erik said through gritted teeth.

Lavender strode out of the room, returning later with another basin of water, a bottle of lavender liquid and a roll of bandage. She carefully poured the lavender liquid into the basin, soaked a small kerchief and cleaned Erik's wound for him. Erik looked stunned, then embarrassed. He tried to brush her away but could not find a place in his heart to do so.

Lavender had finished cleaning the wounds and was not dressing them, carefully wrapping the snow-white bandage around the inflicted area. Erik looked down at the white bandages then at his sister, "Thank you," he said.

Lavender smiled. She got back into bed. Erik suddenly spoke up, "do you need anything? Just tell me," Lavender shook her head. She did not remember feeling hungry again.

"Good night," so saying, Erik got up and began to leave when Lavender cried, "please, don't leave me,"

"You would want privacy, don't you?" Erik said, leaning on the wall and peering at his sister. Lavender shook her head; those big frightened eyes stared back at Erik's calm ones.

"I don't want to be alone, please, Erik, please, I do not want to be alone," she pleaded. Erik sighed, before getting into her bed with her. He gently placed the warm blanket over his sister's skinny form.

Erik rolled over, careful not to disturb his newly bandaged wounds. He looked at his sister, she was already asleep. Her eyes closed and a look of innocence on her face. Thinking of Raoul trying to hurt her made him more and more mad every second. He fell asleep, thinking of the right way of revenge.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28 (history repeating)

The next day was chaos, as the managers answering to thousands of media swarming in to get a good look at what had happened the night before. The Vicompte de Chaney was found a hair breath away from death, with the infamous Punjab Lasso around his neck. He was saved, by the nurses and doctors, but his rage towards the phantom would never die. He had killed, but no one would ever know about this, neither would the phantom, surely just one more death would not hurt?

He had gathered a large group of burly men, and told them of his plan.

"We would stomp down the lair of our cunning friend," he told them secretly. To his surprise, all withdrawn.

"How would we know who would become the next victim to be strangled?" a balding red-head said, wiping his brow nervously.

"Stupid fools! Do you not have brains? He had only himself, we have about 12 men, I am sure that not even the strongest man on earth is able to kill 12 men successfully," Raoul said, sneering.

"What about his sister?" another man asked.

"She is only a girl! A girl! What cowards are you?" Raoul yelled, making all of them jumped.

The plan was formed after some persuasion. The men would hunt down the phantom one day, soon. However, they were not at all aware that a small figure hiding in away in the shadows was listening to all the things that they had discussed.

Though inexperienced, Lavender was able to hide in an efficient way to prevent her being seen. The few months living with Erik had greatly improved her agility. Now, as she crouched behind a large pillar listening to the plans being revealed, she could not help but feel a cold shiver running up her spine. She sprinted off, running all the way from the main hall to the diva's mirror. Pulling open the mirror, she scurried all the way to the edge of the huge lake. Without much effort, she reached her home.

Erik was composing, as usual, but he did spun around to see Lavender, white-faced and shaky coming up from the river bank.

"Goodness, where have you being?" Erik asked, reaching out to take her cloak, Lavender impatiently brushed him away.

"Listen, Erik, they are planning on another attack on us, trust me, the blond idiot was behind this, they were discussing plans to trap you, and kill you," Lavender panted, trying to catch her breath.

"Honestly, did you really think that a single blonde would be able to defeat me? Have you forgotten my duel with him?" Erik said, with a little of a chuckle.

"No, it's not just him, he's got another dozen people supporting him, you would not be able to fight all of them!?!" Lavender said shrilly. He's mad! She thought, desperately, she had got to make Erik believe her. Still, he did not seem to care, with a bored look on his face and an air of master.

Lavender started pleading, "please, please believe me, I can show you the proof if you want..." "There's no need for that!" a cold menacing voice said all of a sudden. Both Froneys swirled around.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 (for you, I shall fight)

"What a nice place to rot in, Monsieur Phantom," sneered the Vicompte, following behind him was a large group of ten people, all carrying deadly weapons and torches. They treaded through the now-shallow water towards the two stunned siblings.

Erik immediately stepped in front of Lavender, before reaching beside him for his sword, "please, fop, you are disturbing the peace and the tranquility of my home, get out, before I lost my temper," he said calmly.

"Called me fop, did you?" Raoul yelled, he advanced, and Erik retreated. Better not risk it, he thought. His sister would be hurt if he advances. After all, they were out-numbered by 9 or so people; they would seize the opportunity to kill his sister if he was busy in duel with the fop. He could feel Lavender's tension; hear her quickening breathing as the mop came closer.

"Fop, please get out, I am warning you, before I lash out," Erik said, one hand pulling out his sword from his sheath. Raoul did not recoil.

"So you think that you can fight me? Think again, you know very well that there are only two…or one of you, perhaps, the girl does not count" Raoul snarled, too pulling out his sword. The two men stared daggers at each other for awhile, and then they attacked at the same time.

There was a blur to Lavender, as she screamed and ran all the way to a secret chamber behind a large mirror built into the rocks. In panic, she hit her head against the cold surface of the mirror, but did not care as she shoved the mirror aside and ran all the way down the cold, slimy passageway. The air below was stiff; Lavender could hardly breathe as she ran all the way to the end of it.

Damn! She thought as she pushed uselessly against the cold blockage that stood in her way. She could hear footsteps, and thought maybe the hooligans were following her. Dread crawled all the way to her throat as she clawed uselessly at the solid rocks blocking her way, crying for help.

Suddenly, she felt someone grabbed her from the side, and felt herself being dragged all the way to the left. It was a woman's hand, warm and comforting. Lavender felt them going upwards, before she burst into a warm room with a cheerful fire. Gasping for breath, she looked at the woman who had saved her.

It was a young girl, about 19 of age with long, straight blonde hair. She was panting from the run and was wearing a ballet skirt. Lavender could only stare.

"W…who are you?" Lavender asked timidly. The girl was still trying to catch her breath, but smiled and said, "Meg, Meg Giry, daughter of Madam Giry," her voice was friendly. She had an angelic look on her face, and a honey smile. Lavender relaxed. The girl, Meg Giry scrambled up scurried to the kitchen before coming back to Lavender with a mug of steaming hot tea. She set the tea on the table, fetched a rose colored blanket from her room and wrapped Lavender in it.

"What's your name?" Meg asked, careful to keep her voice warm in order to not frighten the girl in front of her.

"L…Lavender," Lavender said, shivering from cold and shock. Meg nodded.

"Mother told me to come and see you often, she just wanted to make sure that you are fine under the care of Erik," Meg said, gazing at the fire, "especially after what happened to the old chandelier." Lavender nodded.

"How did you know about my brother?" Lavender asked softly.

"Well, my mother introduced him to me, though, one night after ballet lesson. She knocked on my door and Erik came in with her. That's how I got to know her."

"He's really nice, though", Lavender said quietly. It was true; Erik was very gentlemanly towards her.

"I was walking through the corridors when I heard your screams, and knew perhaps something was wrong, mother told me to get you up here," Meg continued.

Lavender nodded, when she suddenly sat up, a look of horror on her face, "Oh no! Erik! What is going to happen to him? I could I leave him!" She sprinted up, and started scurrying to the place where they escaped the suffocating tunnel.

"No! You cannot go! You will be killed by the mop! HEY! WAIT!" Meg yelled, trying to catch the agile girl. She disappeared before Meg could catch her.

Meg ran all the way down the tunnel again, trying to catch up with Lavender. She's really fast, all taught by Erik, Meg thought as she ran, as fast as she could. She could hear gentle footsteps ahead, knowing that it belonged to Lavender.

Soon, Meg began to realize that she was no longer following Lavender. all in front of her was pitch black. Frightened, she began to call for the girl, "Lavender?"

"Over here, to your left!" was her reply. Meg heaved a sigh of relief, and started sprinting off towards the voice. There, Lavender was found sitting on the floor, with a bow and some arrows, and a sword.

"Goodness, Lavender, where did you get all these?" Meg asked, staring at the innocent looking girl with big green eyes. "the people were still fighting, managed to get these without them noticing, Erik is getting tired, he would not be able to hold on for much longer," Lavender said softly.

She stood up, "leave, Meg, please, they must not know that you are here, go, away from this place, it is too dangerous for you." Meg stared at the girl, "you are going to help Erik?"

"Yes, that's the only way left for me, I have to, if not, I would lost the only person on earth who shared my blood", Lavender said again. Meg nodded, and left.

Carrying all of the weapons, Lavender tiptoed towards another secret entrance to the safety passage. From there, she was able to get a clear view of the fighting going on outside. Carefully, she loaded the bow.

Carefully, she thought. Stretching the bow back to its maximum, she release it, and with a sweet relief when it got one of the pack of wolves.

"Vicompte! Someone is there! I can swear it! Out friend just got killed by an arrow!" a bald man screamed. Raoul turned, "must have being that sister of his!" breaking free from the fight, Raoul began to make his way towards where Lavender was hiding.

Think! Lavender thought, think! Raoul was getting closer, she could hear his breathing. He was too close and by the time she load another arrow, he would have found her. Lavender gripped her sword tightly, it was her only chance left now. With a strong kick to the statue which hid her, Lavender sprang out, sword ready.

Erik at the other end of the room was losing, he felt exhausted, yet, the mop was not at all. He had to use all of his strength against them. One of them grasped his neck and pinned him to the wall.

"The Opera ghost is about to meet 'its' end now, eh?" the burly man said, sneering. From the corner of his eyes, Erik was able to make out the slim form of Lavender fighting against the Vicompte. She would be killed, he thought desperately. He had to help her, but how? With him locked in combat with a bear, how was he able to offer her his help?

Lavender felt herself loosing, he Vicompte was strong and a master at sword, while she was skinny and only a beginner. Suddenly she had an idea.

"Look! What's that behind your back?" she shrieked suddenly.

Raoul by instinct spun around when he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He turned and saw the girl thrusting the sword into him. Blood streamed down the silvery surface of the sword. Gagging, Raoul collapsed. Lavender pulled the sword out; the wound did not seemed to be so deep that it hurt his inner organ, just deep enough to leave a scar forever. Satisfied, she turned towards the other men, who were staring mouth-openly at her.

"Ahem," she said. With frightened movements, the men dragged their dead friend off and the wounded Vicompte wadded through the shallow lake and were gone.

Lavender dropped the sword and ran towards her brother, who was bleeding from head to toe.

"Erik! Are you alright?" she gasped.

Her brother's eyes were closed and he was breathing fast. She looked down, to find a large wound in his chest. A bloodied knife lay nearby. Lavender would have screamed, but controlled herself. She studied the wound. It did not look too deep. He would be able to live, but she had to act fast. Erik could not get up.

I need some help! Lavender thought desperately. Loosing Erik would cost her all the happiness in life. She stood up, trying not to panic. Madam Giry! Lavender suddenly had an idea; she would get Madam Giry down here to help. She gently laid Erik down. "Don't worry, help is on the way," she whispered, hoping that Erik would hear.

She sprinted all the way through the lake up to the opera house, screaming for Madam Giry.

"What is it, Lavender?" Madam Giry asked, poking her head from behind a door.

"Madam Giry, quick! Erik needs your help! He's wounded, I think he is dead but I do not think so too, somehow the fop managed to get down to our home, but I do not know how did he got down there, but he did! One of his man stabbed Erik in the chest. The wound looked deep but it did not too, I don't know! Erik needs your help right now!" Lavender panted, saying all that very fast.

By some miracles, Madam Giry got what she said. Wrapping a shawl around herself, she ran with Lavender down to the lair, on the way, she stopped to fetch bandages.

When they reached the lair, all was dead silent. Not good, Lavender thought, dread crawling to her throat. Erik was still lying on the floor. Lavender dropped to her knees at his side. He was still breathing, luckily; but his face was very pale and his breathing was getting shallower.

Madam Giry cut off a roll of bandage and started wrapping the wound firmly so as to stop the bleeding. Erik groaned in pain. Tears found their way out of Lavender's eyes. She heard the gate opened.

"Mother?" Meg's voice came drifting towards them. Lavender looked up to see the ballerina wadding towards them.

"Oh no! What happened?" she gasped, looking at them.

"Erik got injured by that fop, he should be fine," Madam Giry said, checking the wound so that it would not open up and start bleeding again.

Carefully, they managed to get Erik into Lavender's room, which was closest to them. They were careful not to disturb the wound. Erik's entire body was covered in blood, there were cuts everywhere, he had suffered terribly during the fight.

"Don't worry now, I will stay with him, you can go, and thank you." Lavender said softly. Meg looked worried.

"He would be fine, Meg, I am sure he would be. I will take care of him," Lavender said again.

Smiling slightly, Meg swept out of the room. Lavender heard the gondola being padded out across the lake.

Taking a towel and soaking it in water, she thought about moving out of this opera house. No, she thought, that's not an option. Erik had once told her that the opera house was his life, he would never bear to be separated from the house.

She dabbed Erik's wounds with the warm towel. He had lots of cuts and scratches. Though he himself was torn and wounded, the room remained as before, with tidy stacks of scores. Erik had fought so hard to protect his things and his sister. However, Lavender saw the ruin of the organ. She had heard banging and screams but did not know that it was the organ being destroyed. The hatred for the Vicompte deepened. My brother's treasure! She thought angrily.

Lavender applied medications to the cuts, praying that he would be well again, when Erik suddenly spoke, "Lavender?"

Lavender's heart stopped, she looked down at her brother. His eyes were partially opened and she could see that they were misted.

"Lavender, is that you?" his voice was filled with hope. Lavender's eyes became clouded with tears.

"Yes, it's me, Erik," she replied.

"Sing for me, and I would be at peace," Erik whispered.

Lavender hesitated, what song? She had learned a lot of songs written by Erik, surely……. She took a deep breath and sang:

_We lived in a land_

_Where darkness looms_

_Yet there is something in your eyes_

_Which no one understood_

_Love you craves for_

_Beautiful all the same_

_No, you were the fallen petal_

_Took the blame_

_Deep inside me I knew,_

_That your heart is different,_

_From what they see_

_For I have learn_

_To see the inner heart,_

_Of those who were deceived_

_For love is like a wish,_

_To those who would believe. _

_For all I knew, _

_Love is like a rose,_

_Blooming in winter_

_No, your petals would never close._

_Away from the truth,_

_Something in me unfolds,_

_An urge, _

_A single petal, a sadden soul. _

_I don't care what all that means,_

_For all horrors in the past_

_And yet I could not bear,_

_To leave you, the phantom of the opera_

She finished her song; Erik spoke up again in his weak voice.

"Is that another song which you wrote?" he asked, in his gentle, song-like voice.

"Yes, it is, I wrote it," Lavender felt like an idiot; the answer was already in Erik's mind, why would she repeat it again?

"It's beautiful," Erik whispered, opening a quarter of his eyes. Lavender nodded. She dabbed her brother's face with the warm towel again. She felt something soft and warm settling in her lap. Looking down, she saw Bailey curling up on he knees and was closing her eyes for a nap. Lavender stroked Bailey's ears, silent tears falling.

The dog did not seem to share her depression or angst; instead, it bounced up after a while and stared at Lavender with its big adorable eyes.

"You did not feed that dog, have you?" Erik suddenly mumbled. Lavender knew he was right. It had being days since Bailey eaten. In all the confusion, she had forgotten about the dog. Quickly, she fetched a bowl of food for the dog. Bailey ate it up, making small woofs of joy. Erik sighed with relief.

"Shush, Bailey, don't be so loud," Lavender said, guiding the dog out of the room.

"No, let the dog be, it is cold outside." Erik said weakly. Lavender let the dog in again. Bailey walked straight to Erik, who let the dog leap onto the bed.

Bailey curled up, and closed her eyes for a sleep.

Erik scratched the back of her ears, before turning back to Lavender.

"Please write a letter to the managers, informing them of your opera's failure due to the fop's interference." Erik felt himself slipping away into unconsciousness.

Lavender's eyes became wet with tears again. Erik looked like a living dead. She remembered how she would look up to her handsome brother. Once a strong soul, now wounded and injured and unable to move.

With shaking fingers, she wrote a long letter, spilling out all of her angers for the fop. She placed the letter into the snowy white envelope, and sealed it using Erik's postmark. Pulling on her cloak, she heard a small whining behind her.

Bailey had awoken from her short nap. She saw her mistress got up and was about to leave. Bailey had wanted to go too. "Stay with Erik, Bailey, informs me if something goes wrong," Lavender whispered. Bailey trotted off. Looking at the dog's furry tail disappearing into her room, Lavender started off to deliver the letter.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 (holding on)

Lavender padded through the lake and arrived at the opera house within 5 minutes. She had being thinking of a place to drop the letter; the manager's office would be an ideal place. Running to a place on top of the manager's office, she carefully dropped the letter onto the desk. Satisfied, she climbed down, and was about to start off back when she heard a voice, "Lavender?"

Spinning around, Lavender could make out the form of a young woman with blonde hair walking towards her. It was Meg.

"What are you doing here?" Meg asked.

"Nothing, Erik asked me to drop a letter to remind the managers about yesterday", Lavender felt embarrassed talking to Meg. 

"Is Erik alright?" Meg asked urgently.

"Oh, yes, he is, but he really needed some help," Lavender said softy. Meg nodded.

"I was on my way to visit him, just in case," she said kindly. Lavender smiled. Suddenly, she felt something wet pushing against her palm. Looking down, she saw Bailey nosing her nose against her hand, her eyes were filled with urgency.

"What is it, Bailey?" Lavender asked. Bailey grabbed Lavender's cloak in her mouth and started pulling her away.

"Oh, Erik!" Lavender sprinted with the dog at her heels down towards the familiar path to the phantom's lair. "Wait up," Meg panted.

"Hurry, there might be trouble!" Lavender yelled behind her back. Bailey kept going, occasionally turning back to make sure that they are still following. Turning corners after corners, they ran all the way down to the lair.

They arrived to find Erik gasping for breath, his face was ashen, his forehead was burning up. Lavender ran for cold water this time. She placed a cool towel on her brother's forehead, trying to lower the temperature.

Erik's hands were cold, his skin looked blue. Lavender held his hand, trying to warm it up. "Please, don't leave me," she whispered. She would not forgive herself for Erik's death. Neither could she overcome the lost of her beloved brother. No, she could not; she would not be able to live without him. He had being with her all the time while she was sad or lonely. She held Erik's hand to her face. She could not help but let her tears flow freely. Her tears trickled down Erik's hand, he opened his eyes.

"Lavender," he whispered, using all his strength, he managed to wipe a new trickle of her tears away with his free finger.

"No, please, no, not like this," Lavender gasped.

"No, don't, hold on, Erik, and keep holding on, please. Don't leave me," Lavender broke down, she felt Meg placing her hand comfortingly on her shoulder. She did not care, she would not let Erik die, no, and she would not. She had promised herself to kill the fop, oh why had she not seized the opportunity when they were dueling to kill him?

Looking at her brother fighting for life, she felt the hatred for the fop growing continuously. She might be a girl, but that did not mean that she would not be allowed to hate, and to kill. She would hunt down the fop, and kill him, using Erik's sword, the sword which contained so much hatred. She gripped Erik's hand tighter now. She said a prayer. She heard Erik took another gasp of air. Even drawing breath seemed to be an agony to him now.

"Please, promise me, that you would hold on, don't leave me," Lavender whispered next to his ear, Erik opened his eyes again.

"Yes, I will, I promise," he whispered back. Inside, he knew it was not going to be an easy task, for he had lose a great amount of blood, and a fever was invading his already weak body. Still, he forced himself to agree to Lavender's wish.

That night, Erik felt cold, very cold. The thin blanket on him was not enough. Still, he did not complain. Raising his head a little, he could see how his sister was sleeping. She was slumped at his bed side, silently.

Erik smiled, he knew, that he was going to make it, he was going to hold on. Erik laid back down, no longer feeling so cold. He was protected by warmth.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31 (names)

For the next few weeks, Erik began to get better. He grew stronger; soon, he was able to get out of his bed. Lavender's mood improved everyday as Erik was able to walk again. Soon, she suggested taking the bandage off.

"Well, it might not be a very pretty sight," she said, before taking the bandage off. It was not a very pretty sight. There was a long scar on Erik's chest, it had healed fully, and Erik did not seem to care much about the scar.

"Well, I don't mind it," Erik said in a state of indifference. Lavender giggled.

"Please, Erik, you need to rest," Meg said nervously. Erik frowned.

"Well, Smaller Giry, I am not yet used to people bossing me around yet, if you are to do what that, I would……"Erik growled. Lavender burst out laughing.

"Wait, what did you called me again?" Meg asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Sm-all-er Gi-ry", Erik said very slowly.

Meg ran up to him and slapped him. "Hey! What's that for?" Erik asked indignantly, rubbing his face.

"For insulting a lady," Meg said. Lavender was beginning to turn purple from laughing. Madam Giry came into Lavender's room, where they were chatting in.

"Ah! Here comes Taller Giry," Erik said, but all he got was another slap. Lavender fell over laughing.

"For your information, _Taller Froney_, I would very much appreciate it if you were to call me madam Giry," the ballet mistress said sternly, yet her voice hinted laughter.

"Hey, since when was I known as _Taller Froney?"_ Erik asked suddenly. Lavender stopped laughing immediately.

"Yeah, that's right, since when?" she asked, trying to stand as tall as possible was still a half a head shorter than Meg, a head shorter than Madam Giry and one and a half head shorter than Erik.

"Shut up, _Smaller Froney_," Meg snapped, before rounding up upon Erik once again. Lavender turned seven shades of red.

"ERIK!!?!" she screamed before running up and slapped him on the good part of his face. Erik looked shocked.

"Well, what a day, I got slapped by three women!" he snarled. The three women glared at him in a dangerous manner.

"If not for you not holding your tongue, I would not have gotten the name '_Smaller Froney_', Mister Einstein," Lavender snapped.

Erik smirked, "Well, it's not a bad name after all, sounds cute". The Girys laughed.

"So much for the new name, Taller Froney," Lavender whined. Erik smirked. He got up, looked around, and exited from the room. 

"Women are disasters!" he yelled over from his shoulder. Lavender looked apologetically over at the two Girys whose faces were going redder and redder every moment before exiting herself.

They had their fun that day, but Lavender knew that confronting Erik with the news of his organ was not going to be easy. According to Madam Giry, the organ had being with Erik since he was 7. Still, she demanded it to be thrown away. Lavender fought tooth and nail to keep it, but all she managed to get was a chipped off part of the key. The poem on the organ was gone, forever.

Erik did not really responded much. He only nodded, but Lavender knew the pain in his heart, the tears of anguish in her brother's eyes when he saw the empty space where his organ had once being.

He would recover, Lavender told herself, but in the meantime, she had to prepare something……


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32 (Love is in the air)

Meg visited them for the next few days, sending food down to the Froneys. Erik would greet her with the usual 'Smaller Giry' and get glares from her. However, Erik was grateful for the young ballerina. She was kind, polite (except when Erik called her smaller Giry). Sometimes, Meg would sit opposite of Erik and looked at him eat the food she brought.

Usually, Lavender would be in the room, but sometimes, she would stare at them, and giggle.

"What's so funny?" Meg asked Lavender after a giggling fit from the girl several times.

"Well, Meg, are you in love with my brother?" Lavender giggled.

Both Erik and Meg's head snapped up. "What?!" they asked at the same time. Lavender's grin slid off her face like water.

"Well, the way you looked at him, and the way he looked at you some times…..that can explain a lot," Lavender said slowly. Both Meg and Erik blushed.

"Well, you are only a child, what do you know about love, Smaller Froney?" Erik asked not unkindly.

Lavender thought about it for a while, her large green eyes turned in their sockets once. "Well, love might mean an emotion, or a thing, or a feeling. It can be read through actions and eye contacts, and by the way you stared at Meg and the way Meg stared at you, well……."

Erik laughed, Meg blushed. Lavender held up a large book she was reading, "Look, 'roman love and romantic' the book is worth reading". There was a deafening silence.

"Well, why is it so silent here?" Lavender asked after a minute. "Because you just accused us in falling in love with each other," Erik said menacingly.

"Well, than I am sorry, Meg, my brother do not love you," Lavender shrugged. Meg giggled.

"Well, I was to marry Meg, would you permit?" Erik asked suddenly. Lavender gasped, her eyes became two sparkling sapphire.

"Oooh! Really? Happy for you, but I would not permit it," Lavender's expression turned from sudden happiness to a sudden stern look. Erik cocked his head to one side, staring her.

"Why?" Meg asked. The girl was interesting, she thought.

"How would I know if you were to not an abusive woman to him?" Lavender asked, giggling.

"Well, I can prove that to you if you want," Meg said, chuckling.

"How?" Lavender's eyes became as big as diamonds; she looked like a raccoon with large eyes.

"Well, with…you know," Meg looked uncertainly at Erik. Lavender gasped.

"Oh my god! You two had….." looking from Erik to Meg, Lavender's shocked expression gave way to a giggling expression. Meg looked confused.

"What…." Erik whispered something in Meg's ears. Meg looked shocked.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! Not like that! I mean, no, hey, don't go telling my mother!!?!" Meg yelled after the girl, who was running away.

Erik chuckled. Meg looked embarrassed.

"What make her think that you love me?" Meg suddenly asked. Erik looked innocently at her.

"Well, we siblings sometimes have the most extraordinary telepathy in the world. She can sometimes feel what I feel. At once, she hit her head against the candle stand and I was able to feel the pain along with her." Erik said slowly.

Meg stared unbelievably at him.

"What, do you mean that….." she gasped.

"Well, today might just be a coincidence; she may not feel what I feel about you," Erik said quickly.

Meg blushed, "then tells me honestly how you feel about me?"

"Annoying."

"What?" 

"You heard me, annoying."

"What, after all these weeks when I took care of you, you thought of me as an annoying idiot who took care of you out of boredom?" Meg snarled.

"Well, almost," Erik smiled.

He liked watching Meg getting blown up by him. She would turn a deep shade of red; her hair would seem to stand up with electricity. If he was lucky, he would not get slapped, but if he was not, then he would have to wear a full face mask to hide the hand print.

However, Meg did not react this time. She just stood up, and turned to face Erik in a dead stare.

"Well, Taller Froney, let me tell you this, you had better to apologize to me. Or else I ….I……"

"You what? Stutter at me?" Erik smirked.

"I tell my mother," Meg said. Even in her mind it sounded pretty lame.

Erik acted frightened.

"Oh dear, I better behave myself now, oh dear, Madam Giry, how scary," this time he got a slap.

"The fight changed you, you are getting irritating," Meg said in a deadly voice.

"Yeah, and insulting," Lavender suddenly appeared at beside. Meg screamed.

"Stop behaving like your brother, Smaller Froney, sneaking around like a rat," Meg winced. Lavender grinned.

"Nothing much, just checking out if you two are doing well, no evil doings here. Hey, see, Meg," so saying, Lavender pulled out a sprig of Lavender. Tied to the stem was a pink ribbon.

"For you," Lavender announced importantly. Meg's eyes shined.

"Thanks, Smaller Froney, you are much better than Taller Froney," Meg cooed. That lavender was fresh, it smelled like spring. Meg liked it.

"Hey, Lavender, look behind," Erik's silky voice suddenly came floating behind the girl. Lavender turned.

A Punjab came out of nowhere, landing around Lavender's neck. It tightened. Lavender chocked.

"Erik! Let go, damn you! Let go! Damn! I forgot to put my hand at the level of my eyes!?!" Lavender shrieked while tugging at the thick length of rope around her neck.

"Erik! Let go!" Meg scolded. She knew that Erik would not kill his own sister, but Lavender was beginning to turn purple.

Erik let go.

"Come on, I am not even using my full strength," he growled. Lavender massaged her neck.

"Git," Lavender managed say after a minute. Erik smirked.

"Not funny, Mister Phantom," Lavender screamed. There was a dark red mark on her neck. Erik looked unfazed. Instead, he wore a sneer, while swing his deadly weapon on his arm.

"Neither did I think it was very funny, but you are snatching my fiancée to be," Erik snarled.

"Your what, Monsieur Phantom?" Meg suddenly asked.

"Nothing," Erik said. Meg turned red.

"Please, I heard what you said just now," Meg said softly. They looked at each other for awhile. Lavender looked at them from one to another.

"What are you two waiting for?" Lavender asked after a minute of staring. Erik shot her a shut-up-it's-none-of-your-business look.

"Um, do you mind if you leave us alone for awhile," Meg asked Lavender. Lavender gave out a large, radiant grin before scuttling off.

"What a girl," Erik suddenly spoke. His voice was warm. Meg looked back at him.

"You know, it seemed that my sister really liked you," Erik said quietly. Meg nodded.

"And you know, she is not the only person," Erik whispered. Their eyes interlocked for a while, before Erik pressed their lips together for a long and passionate kiss.

"Aha!" they both heard a girlish giggle above them. Looking up, they saw Lavender's grinning face peaking out from one of the secret tunnel which Erik built. She was hanging from a large boulder with her arms. She looked like a gibbon.

"You two just kissed, have you? Aha! I knew, you love her and you love him. Why don't you two just say it in my face? What are you two going to do next………Ouch!" Before she could finish the sentence, she fell from the boulder with a thud.

"Well, you prying little Delilah!" Erik yelled before whipping the Punjab Lasso from his pocket again. Lavender screamed and the two siblings chased each other around the place. Meg witnessed all these with a smile on her face.

Chapter 32 (parrot, the romance spoiler)

For the next few days, Meg came down everyday. They would eat together, eat, talk, and chat about their lives. Erik would have his Punjab lasso beside him in case the parrot (Lavender) came bugging them. Now, she had not only started predicting their future, how many children they were going to have, and started imitating their every movement. She would drive Erik up the wall, Meg pulling out all her hair, and until Erik pulled out his Punjab would she shut up, and then return awhile later to continue irritating them.

This continued for awhile, until Erik started locking her. However, Lavender had not only courage but brains as well. She would think of someway to get out, and continue her game. Sometimes, she would creep up upon Meg, cover her eyes, and imitate Erik's voice and say, "Guess who I am?"

When Meg guessed Erik, Lavender would laugh and run away, leaving Meg to scream for Erik to control the parrot.

Soon, Lavender became addicted to chemistry. She would work furiously on bottles of chemicals days and night. She had a large book about chemistry. Sometimes, when Erik and Meg were sitting with each other, they would hear loud explosion from the parrot's room. When they entered, nothing was found and later, they would be drenched with Lavender pouring a bucket of water from the ceiling.

One day, Erik was sitting down at the table with Meg. Lavender was sitting nearby, reading a book. However, Erik knew that she was not focusing. The bright green pupils were not moving. They seemed to be tensing up.

Erik eyed his sister suspiciously. She did not seem to be bothering them that day, which was something new. He picked up the pepper bottle, shook it, but nothing came out. He shook harder, still, nothing. Meg was staring in interest at it.

"Hmm, there's something wrong," Erik muttered. He opened the pepper bottle. A large lizard jumped out. A live, disgusting, green lizard. Meg screamed. Lavender did not laugh; instead, she kept a straight face. Erik glared at her.

"Strange, I remembered I screwed the cap on firmly the other time?" Lavender wondered aloud. Erik picked up his fork; it was stuck to the table. He suddenly remembered Lavender laying the table. Meg smiled and got another fork for him.

The rest of the meal went on perfectly, except you counting Meg almost breaking her teeth on several hard pieces of small pebbles which were no doubt stuffed into the food by Lavender. However, the trouble came when it came to desert.

Erik placed two bowls of fresh fruits on the table. They picked up their spoon.

The first scoop would tell Erik that something was not right, but he could not tell how. It was just a feeling, but the truth came when Meg dig her spoon into hers and the entire bowl of fruit mix blew up. Spilling fruits everywhere. Still, Lavender looked at them with a look of indifference.

"Strange fruit behavior," she said, gesturing towards the fruit bowl. Erik could have Punjab her.

That night, as Erik tucked Lavender to bed, he asked her, "Can you stop bugging on us? The salt incident, and not to mention the fruit bowl, it was all your idea right?"

"Yeah, I manage to catch a large newt at the surface of the lake, using a net. The fruit bowl was more complicated. I mixed powdered soda with vinegar, added to the packed bowl of fruits; it created an enormous pressure beneath the fruits. When the pressure was suddenly released, it successfully blew up".

Erik should have being proud of a smart, and mischievous sister, but ruining the dinner that day was not going to improve his mood. He glared at her, and said in a menacing voice, "you had better not ruin the day tomorrow, if you do, you will find a thick rope around your neck."

"Wow, is it something like a threat?" Lavender smiled. Erik could not help but smile too. They said goodnight, and Lavender was left in the pitch darkness to think of something of something naughty to do tomorrow.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33 (April Fools')

Then next day, Lavender had another plan carefully formed in her mind. She was already sitting at the breakfast table the next morning when Erik came out of his room.

"Well, morning," she said brightly. Erik merely nodded; he had not forgotten about the blown up fruit bowl the day before.

"Hey, Erik, can you help me pick up my fork down there? I don't know where it went to," Lavender said suddenly.

Erik sighed, went underneath the table and was about to pick up the fork when he felt something cold running down his shirt. In his surprise, he bang his head against the under side of the table. Lavender laughed, Erik emerged later on to find her holding an empty glass.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Erik fumed. The back of his head was throbbing where he hit his head.

"April's Fool!" Lavender said cheerfully. Erik realised, in an instant that unfortunate day was April Fools', which means that big troubles are on its way here.

Lavender's eyes were turning in its sockets, as though thinking of some other tricks to play on Erik. Erik frowned, he was not subjected to childishness, but he knew he had a lot of stand up to that day.

That afternoon, Meg, as usual came down to Erik's home. She was carrying their lunch as usual. When Erik laid the table, Meg was unloading the lunch sets from her basket.

Lavender had resumed her position on the sofa next to the dinning table. She was looking at them.

The lunch began smoothly at first, until Meg discovered a large bug in her wine glass and Erik found the tips of his fork was stuck together with mud. Without looking up, they knew who the culprit was.

After lunch, Erik was clearing the table when he realised that the table cloth was glued to the dining table. He had seen something shiny on the surface when he laid the table but took no notice of it at first. He and Meg tried their best to remove the cloth but all they could do was to rip the cloth in half and pieces of cloths still stuck to the table.

"Right, me and Meg are going up the ceiling for a while, you better stay down here and be good," Erik said after the clearing was done. Lavender gasped.

"Great! You are going up to the roof? I want to come along!" Lavender cried, grabbing her cloak which was lying nearby.

"No! You stay here, and when we come back, no tricks, understand?" Erik said loudly. Lavender sulked.

"I promise, no tricks, seriously," Lavender begged.

"Alright, come along," Meg smiled. She had liked the child. Erik looked shocked.

"No! Meg, what if she……." He whispered something in her ear again. Meg frowned, "did you really think that Lavender is going to push us off the ceiling?"

"No, but…" 

"NO 'buts'"

"Meg…."

"ERIK!"

"Alright, alright, but behave yourself!"

Soon, the three of them were gathered on the ceiling, overlooking the entire Paris. Meg and Erik looked and admired the scenery above. Lavender was staring at the two of them.

"What?" Meg asked after a few minutes,

"Nothing, you two really looked like couple, don't you, I mean, look at you two, hugging and your lips looked as though they were glued like the table cloth," Lavender shrugged.

"What nice description! I am still not calmed by your table cloth incident", Erik snarled viciously.

"AHA! You love her, don't you?" Lavender asked curiously.

"So what if I do?" Erik asked.

"Well, depends, if she loves you, then, well, happy for you. But if she don't, I won't be surprise," Lavender said with a straight face.

"Why?" 

"You are the Phantom of the Opera,"

"So?"

"So she would be so frightened that she would not love you," 

"If I am the phantom, does that means that I am not allowed to love?"

"Yeah, kind of"

"You disgust me,"

"You too," 

"Cut this out, both of you," Meg suddenly said. Lavender and Erik looked as though they were going to strangle each other. Both of them are gripping the handle of their swords tightly.

"You must be careful; I have my trusty friend, the Punjab with me," Erik said dangerously.

"Oh yeah? Then meet my new friend too," Lavender pulled out a similar Punjab Lasso from her pocket. Erik looked a bit unnerve.

"Right, the two of you are behaving immaturely. Put that Punjab away, both of you. Erik, stop being such dramatic person, can't you see that your sister do not understand love as much as we do? She is just a growing girl, she is learning, that's the reason of her being dumb presently….."

"HEY!" Lavender cried.

"And you, Smaller Froney, you ARE being irritating, and stop playing all those lame tricks on us, it is not entertaining." Meg finished, looking satisfied.

Lavender put her Punjab away, but Erik did not.

"Erik, away with the Punjab, now!" Meg said suddenly.

"Fine!" he growled, putting away but still visible to Lavender.

"If she is going to bother us for one more time, I am really going to use my helpful friend!" Erik said with a wicked grin. Meg rolled her eyes.

They stayed up on the roof for another few minutes, before proceeding down to the lair. On the way, Lavender irritated them with by asking Erik and Meg repeatedly if they love each other.

It was only until Erik yelled in her face did Lavender finally shut up.

"Honestly, I do not know what was happening to you since I got better from the sword fight. First, you slapped me, when you were afraid to do so in the past, and then you started blowing up my fruit bowls and sticking my forks to the table. What is going with you?" Erik asked Lavender angrily.

"Well, after the fight, I realised that you are not so heroic sometimes. And that changed my opinion about you. Hey, do you love Meg?" Lavender asked innocently.

"AHHHH! Get away from me, you seriously are irritating!" Erik yelled. Lavender, for the first time looked frightened.

"Alright, alright, I am going to shut up, don't be so dramatic," Lavender said annoyed.

Finally, they reached the lair. Meg began to lay the table for dinner. Lavender resumed her position on the sofa.

"Don't you want to eat too, Lavender?" Erik asked. Lavender shook her head.

"No, I don't eat dinner, I thought you knew that," Lavender replied sleepily.

"Well, if you are tired, go and sleep, don't force yourself," Erik said concerned. The girl was looking pale again. He had heard her coughed just now, and the whites of her eyes are turning red, the usual symptoms of approaching fever.

"I'm fine, eat your food, I am staying here," Lavender said quietly, resting her head on her arm, and looking at Erik picking up his fork. There must be something strange about my sister today, he thought. She really did not look well, so pale that she looked like the dead.

After lunch, Erik sat down with Lavender at the sofa, and touched her head; it was frizzling.

"You are having another fever, what was the last time you ate?" Erik asked suspiciously.

"Since….er…..let me think….I forgot," Lavender said with a shrug. Erik sighed. He knew about Lavender's diet problem.

"Tell me, what was bothering you these days?" Erik asked gently.

"Well, nothing much, just some small stuff," Lavender said weakly. 

"Get into bed, I will bring something for you to eat now," Erik said, getting up. Lavender got up and went into her room.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34 (betray)

Erik entered his small kitchen. He was about to get to work when he found a small, unfamiliar bottle of black powder. He held it in his hand and shook it; it was made of grains so small that it was impossible to be pepper, neither was it gun powder. Yet, the mysterious powder in the bottle brought a sudden wave of suspicious to Erik. Was this powder that caused Lavender to be so sick? He brought in Lavender's cup from the living room. Thankfully, it was not washed. He observed it carefully. At a corner of the now dried cup, there was a tiny layer of the exact same powder as the one he held in his hands.

How did the powder get into the cup in the first place? He thought. There was no doubt that the powder could not have flown in themselves.

He suddenly remembered how Meg had handed Lavender the cup of water before they went up to the ceiling. Meg! That's got to be her. With angry moves, Erik dashed into the living room where Meg was sitting reading.

"I want an explanation for this!" Erik snarled in her face. Meg looked surprise.

"What? What was that thing?" Meg asked curiously. Erik advanced on her.

"That's exactly what I was about to ask you!" Erik grabbed Meg's wrist and slammed her against the wall, sneering at the fear in her eyes.

"E-Erik, I-I don't know……" Meg began, but Erik cut through her.

"Did not know? Let me remind you then, after you poured some of these stuff into my sister's cup of water before we went up to the roof, you absent-mindly left this bottle of stuff on the kitchen table, I need an explanation!"

"Erik, seriously, I did not know that she was so sensitive to the powder!" Meg said softly.

"Why did you want to do such a thing to my sister?" Erik roared, flinging Meg onto the floor.

"She was getting a little bit irritating, the powder just meant to get her to sleep, but I did not know that it was so strong that she would fall sick!" Meg cried, massaging her wrist at where Erik had grabbed her.

"Irritating? She was just curious; I don't mind her playing all those tricks on us, it was just a part of her growing up. What on earth do you have against that?" Erik yelled. Tears began flowing out of Meg's eyes. Erik ignored all these, shoved her off the floor roughly and pushed her towards the gondola.

"Leave, I could not have someone who tries to kill my loved ones, leave, never to return again," Erik said curtly.

"Erik, I'm sorry…."

"JUST LEAVE BEFORE I TAKE UPON ACTIONS!"

Meg stumbled across the rough shore of the lair, got into the gondola, and rowed out of sight.

Erik felt anger still pumping through his veins. How dare she? Poisoning Lavender so ruthlessly.

Erik brought a tray into Lavender's room. She was propped on a pillow, her face paler than just now, two large green eyes bulging with fever. She turned her face weakly at Erik when he entered her room.

"I am so sorry, it was Meg, she tried to trick you, but ended up almost killing you," Erik said anxiously. Lavender nodded weakly; the fever had caused her to be very weak.

"Here, eat this food, it would do you some good, though. Do eat it, please do not turn it down again, you looked starved to death," Erik said softly. Lavender closed her eyes.

He felt her forehead. It was fiery hot. She was getting more and more ill by the minute. Erik thought hard of a way which Madam Giry had once used on him to chase the fever away. He had tried putting damp cloth on Lavender's forehead but it was not curing the illness itself. Erik lit a fire, and returned back to Lavender's side. Her thin hands placed on the blanket was quivering a little, her cheekbones looked sunken, making her look even more weaker than before.

All of a sudden, Madam Giry came into the room.

"Oh dear, I had heard from Meg about Lavender, how was she?" she asked anxiously as she proceeded to the bed.

"She was getting worse and worse, there was no methods you taught me that I had not used to cure the illness," Erik said softly, but anxiously. Madam felt Lavender's forehead.

"Dear me, what has Meg done? The girl is going to die if the fever continues this way," Madam Giry gasped. She quickly fetched some medicine and some warm water.

"Here, feed her with these medicines, and make her drink plenty of warm water. Stay by her side all the time. It is possible that she might get stroke from overheating. Come to me if anything goes wrong," Madam Giry said quietly, handing Erik a bagful of medicines.

"I will send Bailey to look for you, so keep a look out for that dog," Erik said, nodding towards Lavender's collie, which was at the moment curled up upon the mattress, asleep.

Madam Giry nodded, muttered an apology, and left quietly. Erik sat back down at the bedside of Lavender. He carefully tipped out a small spoonful of white syrup and helped Lavender up.

"Here, drink this. It would do you good," Erik whispered as Lavender slowly opened her eyes again. Erik tipped the medicine into her mouth, but Lavender coughed and chocked on it. Damn! It was all because of Meg! Erik thought angrily. He would have kill Meg if she had poisoned Lavender dead.

Erik walked around in the room, his gaze kept falling back to Lavender.

Meg…..Meg…how could you? Erik thought in anguish. He had always regarded Meg as an innocent girl who would not betray. Betray, now Erik know the true meaning of the word and the pain it caused, he would not need another lesson after Christine. Meg….you are a murderer and how could I ever trust you again? Erik thought desperately. He felt Lavender's forehead. The fever was getting worse; he knew that it would not be long before Lavender succumb to the illness.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapters 35 (kill the rose, keep the lavender)

Raoul was considered a strong man. A single sword thrust would not kill him, so neither would the thrust that Lavender delivered to his stomach. However, he had decided not to give up until he had the phantom and his sister dead. That day, he was lying in the hospital bed when the opera house's manager came into the ward.

"Vicompte! How are you doing?" Andre asked nervously as he stared at the pale and gaunt figure in bed. Raoul lifted his head slightly.

"Not good, my wound needed many stitches, that girl was brilliant at sword. The opera ghost must have being teaching her all his skills," Raoul said bitterly.

"Well, at least I think you had killed the phantom," Firmin said, trying to ease the Vicompte's anger. Raoul shook his head.

"I saw the girl; she was indeed the phantom's sister. She was a smaller version of him, except that she was girl and one and a half head shorter than him. She looked not more than 14 or 15," Vicompte said weakly. It was not good news to him. The opera ghost had now an assistant, which posed even more danger to them. The managers exchanged looks of horror.

"What do you reckon we should do now?" Andre asked anxiously.

"Seek out the phantom and his sister. Kill the ghost, and just take the child. She was too young, not worth killing. We should rid her mind of her brother than. But now, just let the matter rest." Raoul said seriously.

The managers left, Raoul sat up on his bed, smirking. They would be thinking how a lenient man I am. Sparing the ghost's sister? Ha! Only in their imagination, I would kill them both, a simple matter, thought the Vicompte. He lay back down.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36 (Apology)

For the next few days, Lavender got worse and worse. She had grown so weak and skinny that her skins were stretched over her bones. She could hardly move at all, and the fever was not at all abating. Erik was panicking, he had tried to look for Madam Giry but she could not be found.

That day, Erik was still sat by Lavender's bedside when a gentle knocking on the gate drew his attention.

On exiting the room, he saw Meg standing there, holding a small bag. She looked thinner still.

Erik glared at her.

"What bravery, to stand in the doorstep of an enemy," Erik snarled. Meg blushed, but kept her head down.

"Please, Erik, I do not regard you are my enemy," Meg spoke up suddenly.

"But I do to you!" Erik yelled. Meg did not redraw, instead, she approached the gate timidly.

"Please, open up, I need to give Lavender this. This is the cure for the powder. Mother did not know about this, I'm sorry," Meg bowed her head lower still, not daring to meet Erik's eyes. She suddenly felt fading footsteps. Great! He's ignoring me! She thought desperately.

However, she soon heard the creak of the gate as it was opened.

"Come in," Erik said curtly. He led Meg to Lavender's room. Meg looked a bit shocked by the skinny and quiet girl lying beneath the blanket. Lavender looked different from the girl whom Meg remembered, hopping around and playing tricks on them.

Meg poured a light green powder into a cup, mixed it with water, and pushed it into Lavender's hand.

"Here, drink this." She whispered. Lavender shook her head, "How could I even trust that you are not trying to poison me further?" she asked angrily, but very weakly.

"I swear, I really do," Meg said, tears falling slowly. Lavender drank it slowly. With a sigh of relief, Meg stood up, and handed Erik a bag with the same powder form which she had given Lavender.

"Make sure that she drinks this three times a day, I am sorry for the trouble brought to you. I had being to give you this for ages, but could not dare to do so," Meg whispered, still not meeting Erik's eyes. She swept past Erik and into the main chamber. Erik heard her wadding through the water to her home.

Erik looked at the bag of medicine. His inner organs seemed to be frozen up, Meg had tried to help. He felt a sense of gratitude towards the ballerina, but could not bring himself to like her again. She had tried to kill my sister! He thought angrily. Placing the medicine on the table, he turned his attention to Lavender, who was partially unconscious.

Lavender…Lavender, please forgive me, he thought sadly.

While Lavender was almost asleep now, she did not see the trickles of tears that found their way out of Erik's eyes.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37 (angel and forgiveness)

Erik watched over his sister like a guardian angel. He would sit down at her bedside every hour except that he would go for a short break and come back again. Meg's medicine did not seem to cure anything. However, Lavender was constantly drifting to sleep. Very soon, the dark rings around her eyes disappeared, but she remained skinny. Erik would sing to her sometimes, mainly all the old creation which he had composed, he had not the time to come up with new ones while taking care of her.

Lavender finally opened her eyes one morning, much to Erik's relief.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked anxiously. Though Lavender had managed to open her eyes, Erik could see that they were still misted.

"Much better," Lavender whispered weakly. She tried to sit up.

"Lay down, do you need me to get you anything?" Erik asked, concerned. Lavender shook her head, her hair a little messy, but she did not seem to care.

"How long have I being lying in bed?" she said softly. Erik had to strain his ears to listen, but he got what she said, however.

"Two weeks, you have not taken any food. But Madam Giry advised me to put small amounts of sugar and salt in your water at times, to prevent dehydration and malnutrition" Erik said comfortingly. Lavender nodded. Two weeks were a bit of a shock to her, but she did remembered sleeping for long hours. She looked up at Erik, the green eyes looked exhausted, but a worried look remained on his face.

"Hey, how was Meg?" Lavender whispered.

"Don't even mention that name to me, she tried to kill you, for as far as I know," Erik growled. Lavender shook her head.

"You have always being a great brother to me, surely you would forgive her?" Lavender said gently.

"No, I won't, I would have killed her if she had being successful in killing you," Erik said bitterly.

"Listen, Erik. Why is there any holy people and angels in this world? An angel would not remember the things which their enemies did to them in the past. Instead, they would forgive, and forget. Erik, I knew that Meg had almost destroyed my life, but honestly, do you really think that she meant it? She did it out of fun, not at all knowing that the cup of water held poison which harmed me terribly. But would it too, harm your trust to her? She was ignorance to the poison, not at all knowing that how much damage she would cause. Meg would not have done the deed knowing that she would kill me if she did. How could a small thing like that break the two of you up?" Lavender asked.

"It's not a small thing, it almost killed you. For the two weeks, you had being fighting hard against the illness itself," Erik looked shocked to see his sister regarding death as a small matter.

"No, I know it is not a joke to laugh about, but do you think that angels would be formed if violence and hatred were formed between the two parted souls? There would have already being tension and disagreement between the two, but they still learn to form back up together. Think of it this way, Erik. If you and Meg were to build a bridge across to each other with forgiveness, you would not be burying a seed of anger, the pain and the sorrow would be released. Be an angel, Erik, forgive and forget," Lavender slipped away into unconsciousness. She had to master all her energy to draw breath and try and persuade Erik. It had tired her out.

Erik watched as his sister slowly fell asleep again. He knew that she would take some time to be awake again, but he had plenty to think about during the time.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38 (an angel)

Erik spent the time writing a long letter, apologizing to Meg and telling her to come down as soon as she received the letter. He attached it to Bailey's collar, and telling her where to deliver the letter to. He watched with satisfaction as the dog trotted off.

Well, Lavender, I guess you had persuaded your brother, Erik thought laughingly. A 14 years old girl…..imagine, what a joke it would be for the entire Opera house to know! Erik tapped his fingers impatiently on the wooden table while waiting for the return of Meg and Bailey.

Soon, he could hear trotting of the dog and a quick, careful step of a girl. Erik stood up, pat down his hair, and wait earnestly.

Meg emerged from behind the gate, carrying a basket; Bailey looked excited as he walked alongside with her. Meg was obviously practicing ballet when Bailey brought her the letter; she was still wearing her ballet costume and had hastily put on a cloak.

Meg came to the shore, Bailey trotted off to the direction of Lavender's room. Meg timidly approached Erik, as though scared that he would slap her.

There was an uncomfortable minute of silence.

"What…..what did you want me to come down here for?" Meg asked in a frightened voice. Erik felt guilt, he had not meant to harm her, but the injuries which he had inflicted on her during his outburst two weeks ago had left a scar on her thin, fragile wrist.

"I just wanted to apologize for my rowdy behavior two weeks ago," Erik was shocked to find his voice flat and monotone. Embarrassed, Erik looked down, not meeting Meg's eyes.

"Well, I am too," Meg said softly. Her gaze seemed to be traveling to something else. It was only then did Erik hear a soft scuffling of door. He turned to find Bailey struggling with the handle of Lavender's bedroom. The dog was small, so it was unable to reach up to the handle. Meg chuckled, before walking towards to help the collie. Before she could reach it, the door opened to reveal Lavender.

She staggered out, both hands on the wall for support. Looking at the way she walked, Meg felt a pang of guilt. The powder had really affected Lavender very badly indeed. Erik rushed over to help her. He carried her to the sofa, before putting her gently down on the soft surface.

"Well, you two are making up again?" Lavender said. Her voice hinted relief. Both Erik and Meg smiled at her. Lavender managed a tired smile. She was slumped on the sofa, gazing at the pair of them.

Erik approached Meg slowly. They stood inches away, as though waiting for each other. Erik's eyes were warm, Meg felt herself being drawn just by her gaze. Suddenly as it seemed, Erik moved away, and Meg was staring at think air with a dumb look. She recovered after a few moments to find Erik returning from Lavender's room with a purple blanket. He wrapped it around his sister.

"Well?" Erik asked, looking at Meg, who was frozen there.

"Well, nothing," Meg replied quickly. She got to set the table.

As Erik and Meg settle down to eat, Erik looked at the watching Lavender and said jokingly, " Well, the one thing that was good from the powder incident was that you would not be able to play any more tricks on us again."

Lavender smiled a little, "Yeah, right?" she found a hook fixed beside the sofa earlier there by her. She tugged it gently.

Erik and Meg swore heard a click of a mouse trap above them. They tried to figure out what was going on, but was too late as they were soon rained with a mixture of rose and lavender (the flower) petals. The petals found their way into Erik and Meg's tea and their plates of food.

"Why must all your tricks end with a mess?" Erik said through gritted teeth as Lavender was doubled over with laughter. Meg was smiling, she looked so lovely with the bright purple and red flower petals tangled in her hair. Erik felt himself compelled to look into her eyes. The lunch continued with no more troubles from Lavender.

As the meal was cleared (with some cleaning, since the petals were everywhere), Erik had helped Lavender into her bedroom for a nap. Meg was settling herself down on the coach, with a book. Erik started a soothing, mournful piece on his violin, he was so absorbed in the song that he did not realize that Meg was soon transfixed by him.

"What?" he asked after sensing her gaze.

"It was so beautiful!" Meg said quietly.

"What? Oh, thanks, the song took me sometimes to write.."

Meg walked over. She placed on hand on Erik's shoulder. Good thing Lavender was not here! He thought with relief; she would have laughed her head off.

"Did you write this?" Meg asked softly, her large brown eyes meeting Erik's green ones.

"Yes, I did. You should take a look at some songs which Lavender wrote, very nice indeed," Erik breathed. Meg settled down beside Erik at the organ.

"Well, I am sorry about Lavender," Meg said softly. Erik nodded.

"I understand, and I forgive you," Erik said quietly. Meg smiled. Erik turned to look at her.

"Well, there had being two weeks without seeing you, how was your mother?" Erik asked softly. Meg sighed.

"She had not being getting better, the doctor diagnosed her with tuberculosis yesterday, they reckoned that she might not live," suddenly, Meg broke down, leaning on Erik's shoulders as she wept buckets of tears. Erik was stunned for a moment, before putting his arms around the ballerina as well.

He could understand how Meg was feeling then. He had too; shed tears when his mother died and his sister taken away from him. However, he was no longer sensitive to the loss; he was numbed from pain in the past.

Erik carefully carried Meg to an unused room and put her on the bed. Meg laid head on the pillow and began to fall asleep.

Erik closed the door and went to Lavender's room. Her room was lit, which suggested that she had not yet fallen asleep. Erik gently pushed the door open.

Lavender was lying on the bed, reading. Her eyes darted over the book in her hands; so absorbed were she in the book that she did not realize that Erik had came into her room.

"Hi, little bookworm, I see that you are not sleeping," Erik said gently as he closed the door behind him. Lavender looked up.

"Oh, have you finished your lunch?" Lavender asked cheerfully. Compared to the once dangerously sick Lavender, there was a huge difference. Erik smiled.

"Yeah, she was tired, so I let her use one of the spare bedroom," Erik mumbled to himself. Lavender's grin was replaced by a serious look.

"Tell me, Erik, how do you honestly feel about Meg?"

Erik felt like saying 'annoying', but Lavender was the closest person he ever had, and lying would not improve their relationship.

"Well, she is quite kind. Or that's what I think of her. The powder incident does not count, I mean, I accept that she was just by accident," Erik said slowly. Lavender raised an eyebrow.

"I want the truth, Erik, the truth," Lavender said warmly.

The truth, Erik told himself. She wanted the truth. Erik felt his heart froze. Two sides of his mind were battling against each other.

_Come on, phantom, just tell her. She is your sister!_

_No! What if she went to tell Meg? _

_Come on, she won't, I trust that she won't…_

_No, don't tell her. _

_Tell her…go ahead…._

_No…don't…don't…don't…_

_Tell her!_

_Don't!_

_TELL HER! _

While Erik's mind was arguing with him, his lips voices out the truth unknowingly.

"I…I love her,"

Erik suddenly looked horrified. "Oh dear, Lavender, I did not say anything! Don't take it seriously…just don't…" Erik knew that it was too late to take back those words. Lavender was goggling at him in interest; it was awhile before she finally said.

"Well, don't be shocked, I knew from the start…the powder incident did not seem to affect your relationship with her, I suppose?"

Erik sighed, "True."

"Then why don't you just admit it? I mean, it is natural for someone to fall in love with another. Are you being shy or what?" Lavender scoffed.

"No! You are joking, I am not shy…….or what," Erik snapped. Lavender sniggered.

"Oh yeah? Then why, may I ask that you are turning red?"

"I'm not!"

"Stop living in self denies, it is not healthy for you."

"I know what is healthy and what is not! Thank you!"

"Tsk Tsk, what pitiful creature you are, Erik."

Erik glared at his sister. She was right, though. A voice in his head reminded him. You ARE living in self-denies, you truly loved Meg, but you pretended that you did not!

Erik felt useless. Just then, Lavender suddenly extended her hand and gave him…..a rose petal.

"Here, this was the petal that she kissed," Lavender said joyfully.

"Kissed?" Erik was confused.

"Yeah, I told her that kissing a rose petal would make one's wish come true, but one must say the wish out loud. She did not want me to hear her wish, so she went into my room to say it. Stupid creature, she did not know how many secret tunnels my room has, allowing me to hear her wish," Lavender said naughtily.

"So what was her wish?"

"She wants you to forgive her, and, she love you too, Erik."


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39 (when rose burst into blooms)

Erik felt his heart, which was frozen earlier on, had melted. He suddenly felt light. He held the petal to his face, savoring the scent from the single room petal. Thank you, Lavender, Erik thought.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Meg standing at the doorway, slightly pale but smiling. She walked over, and spotted the petal in Erik's hand.

"Oh! You are making a wish too? Lavender told me about the marvelous way of wishing," Meg said excitedly.

"Yes, regarding your wish…I..."

"What?! She told you about my wish?"

Crap! Erik thought.

"Yeah, but….." 

"LAVENDER!?!"

"Meg, please…."

"NO! I WILL NOT LISTEN! THAT GIRL!"

Meg stared daggers at Lavender, who glared back.

"Well, you can only yourself to blame for being so gullible," Lavender said stubbornly.

Meg looked timidly at Erik, who chuckled.

"Well, then, Meg, regarding your wish…"

Erik let the suspense in the air stay.

Please, Meg thought desperately. Please.

"I agree," Erik finished off in triumphant.

Done! Meg thought happily. She smiled, a big smile which she had not being to wear for many days. Erik smiled back her. Meg settled down beside Erik, her hand on his. They sat close together. Very close. Almost cautiously, but surely, they moved towards each other before their lips met for a loving kiss.

Erik was so absorbed by Meg that he forgot about Lavender being in the room, until he heard a burst of laughter.

"What?!" Erik asked. Lavender grinned, before taking from behind her a small box wrapped in gold.

"Here, open it!" she said excitedly, thrusting the package into Erik's hands.

Erik opened it, and to his surprise, was a……ring.

It was not ordinary ring. It was unusually shiny and was consisted of two swirling colors: lavender and red. The ring was beautiful. Erik marveled at it for a while before asking Lavender.

"Where on earth did you get this from?"

"Don't be angry, I did not steal this, I made this, from broken glass."

"?" 

"Well, that day, my mirror broke. I found that some parts of the mirror had different colors in them, probably because of…of…I don't know, so I took the next few weeks carving it into this shape."

Erik examined it more carefully. It was in a heart-shape, not doubt taken Lavender a lot of time to make it.

"Thanks, but what do you want me to do with this?" Erik asked, though he already knew what.

Lavender shot him a you-know-what-to-do-so-don't-act-ignorance look.

Erik turned his attention back to the watching Meg, he gulped. Lavender patted him on the hand to comfort him.

Erik, in his nervousness and anxiousness to finish his speech did not quite get his tongue around the words and they came out straight, "Meg, wouyoumarymi?"

"Sorry?" Meg asked. Lavender snorted with laughter.

"Would…would you marry me?" Erik felt himself blushing, but why now?


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40 (love me, that's all I ask of you)

Meg stared transfixed at the ring which Erik held out for her. She loved Erik. Looking at the frozen Erik and the grinning Lavender, she felt like being a part of this family. She smiled.

"Well, why not?" Meg said, grinning as well. Erik looked indignant.

"I was hoping for a more positive answer." 

"Yes then." Meg graciously took the ring from Erik and placed it on her finger.

Both of them smiled, and leaned forward for another kiss. Lavender watched mouth agape.

"What, never seen us before?" Erik asked, not unkindly.

"No, but honestly, you two looked….looked….." Lavender stammered.

Erik braced himself for the worst.

"…like a pair of mating penguins"

Both Meg and Erik rounded upon the girl lying in bed.

"A PAIR OF WHAT!?!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAID?!"

"US LOOKING LIKE A PAIR OF MATING PENGUINS?!?!"

"ARE YOU NUTS?"

"WE DO NOT LOOK LIKE PENGUIN! I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ERIK BUT I CERTAINLY DO NOT!?!" 

"WHEN CAN YOU STOP INSULTING US BEFORE I PUT A PUNAB LASSO AROUND YOUR PRETTY NECK!?!"

Now, both ladies were looking at Erik.

"Well, I thought we signed a contract about this…this…Punjab thing?" Meg asked

"We did?" Erik faked ignorance. Meg glared at him.

"Yeah, of course we did. You forgot?" Lavender asked.

"Yeah, I forgot, I am aging, and age make people lose memories," Erik shrugged.

"Excuse me, Einstein, you are only 25?" Lavender pointed out.

"You are only 25? One look at you will think that you are 30 over…." Meg said, giggling.

"Speaking of age, your birthday is approaching. It is next Saturday, and you will be 26," Lavender said laughingly. Erik looked surprised.

"How do you know when is my birthday?" he asked, unable to believe his ears.

"You should get to know your calendar better than I do, everyone's birthday was noted down," Lavender said slowly.

"Very well, you got me," Erik said.

"Well, isn't it a good thing? I got a husband and Erik's got a wife, and what did you get?" Meg asked Lavender.

Lavender's eyes turned in their sockets.

"I get to play more tricks on you!" she finally said after a few seconds.

"Nice, now you are the one who caused it, Meg," Erik growled. Meg looked at him in a state of disbelieve.

"What? I caused it?"

"Yeah, from now on, you are going to be responsible for the mess Smaller Froney is going to make."

"I AM NOT SMALLER FRONEY!"

"Shut up, Smaller Froney. I mean it, Meg; I don't want my lair to be filled to the brim with flower petals."

Meg glared at Erik, who was evidently enjoying himself. Lavender had turned a deep shade of red.

"Got to send a letter to mother," Meg said suddenly, breaking the ice.

"Yeah, better tell her that you are married to a fierce, deformed...Er…freak? My, I pity Madam Giry; she's going to go nuts!" Lavender said loudly.

Erik looked like the exact picture of rage; his hands were balled into fists, and the left side of his face was so contorted with anger that if he took his mask off, it would be impossible to know which side is truly deformed.

"Bailey! Come here!" Lavender called. In bounced the puppy. Lavender carefully attached the letter which Meg wrote to the collar of Bailey before letting it go off.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 40 (26 candles)

For the next few days, Lavender was only obsessed with preparing for Erik's birthday. Her health has improved greatly, thanks to Erik's care. Now, Lavender locked herself into her own room, pounding over Erik's birthday and what should she do to give him a surprise.

"Drop it, Lavender, just drop it. He is a grown man now, not 14. He would not be interested in your party," Meg said lovingly as she stroked Lavender's silky, dark hair.

"Well, not really, he is going to appreciate it, I promise," Lavender said stubbornly, checking a list of things to do.

Lavender began running up and down the opera house the next day, much to Erik and Meg's puzzlement.

"What you are doing these few days?" Erik asked Lavender, who only smiled mischievously.

The day before Erik's birthday Lavender hardly came out for meals. Erik would come out of her room after a few minutes of persuading, shaking his head and sighing.

"She won't come out, would she?" Meg asked him hopelessly. Erik shook his head sadly.

"Don't know what she is planning," Erik said shortly. He had heard noises in Lavender's room when he was in his own room. Though Erik tried to take a peek of Lavender's 'work', he found that all the secret tunnels that led to her room had being blocked.

That night before bed, Erik discovered a note on his pillow: look forward to tomorrow.

The next day, Erik awoke suddenly to a loud crash in the main chamber.

"What the—" Erik groaned sleepily.

"Oh no!" with a quick exchange of panic glances, Meg and Erik rolled out of bed. They grabbed a coat each, pulled it on, before dashing out of their room into the main chamber. Unexpectedly, Erik and Meg found themselves almost buried in buckets of flower petals. They were momentarily blinded by the light emitted from the room.

After several blinking and adjustment to the light, Erik managed to make out a figure amongst his ruin of a lair.

There, on the chair sat Lavender, with a naughty grin on her face. She pointed to a table, or was once a table beside her. It was piled with presents. Erik and Meg's jaws fell open at the sight of these.

"What is going on?" Erik said, pissed. Lavender slide off the chair.

"A surprise! What do you think? First birthday party ever, huh?" Lavender giggled. Meg giggled along with her.

"But, my lair?" Erik looked at the mess on the floor. And around at him. Thank god all his candles were still there, only the older ones were replaced by new ones.

"Don't worry we will clea---I mean I will clean it up later," Lavender changed hastily, catching the now angry look from Erik.

"Why don't you start opening some of your presents?" Lavender quickly changed the subject. She handed Erik a smaller package, which he took hesitantly.

"It is not something that blow up when you open it, don't worry," Lavender assured Erik as he began to open the present. He gasped.

It was a badge, a diamond badge in the shape of a rose. It was in a dainty pink and red color, and glinting in the bright candle light.

"Where did you get this from?" Meg asked, as she looked at the present behind Erik's back.

"The same way as your wedding ring, from glass," Lavender said proudly.

"My dear, you are always full of surprise," Erik muttered under his breadth. Lavender handed him another present. It was a long package, with the note 'from Bailey'.

"Er….from a dog?" Erik asked, confused.

"Got any problem with that?" Lavender raised an eyebrow.

Erik opened it, and to his surprise, it contained a large bone. Meg rolled on the floor in laughter.

Bailey barked all of a sudden.

"Er, I think she wants you to eat it," Lavender said slowly.

Meg's stomach was starting to hurt from laughing.

"What? Are you insane?" Erik snapped.

"No, not at all, just a lick will do, don't make Bailey cry!" Lavender said gloatingly.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" Erik growled as he stared at the bone in disgust.

"Not at all, no, ask Bailey," Lavender said, pointing to the dog sitting on the floor, looking eagerly up at them. Erik put it away with a sigh.

"And now, my best present to you, Erik," Lavender walked ceremoniously over to a large curtain which Erik did not notice it before.

With a graceful yank, Lavender tore the curtain away from something dazzling.

Both Erik and Meg choked.

It was an organ. A new, sparkling organ. Its newly-polished pipes reached out towards the ceiling like the rays of a raising sun. It too, had words carved on it. The organ was a new white color, with the keys smooth and shiny. It was covered with a black silk cover, adding to the majestic of the organ itself. On the organ were several sheets of scores, and lavender colored vase containing lavender with a pink ribbon tied around it and a rose with a black ribbon. There were fresh, new candles all around it, giving it a grand look.

"Where did you get that one from?" Meg asked, spell-bound.

"Don't tell me you carved that one out of broken mirror glass too," Erik whispered in awe. Lavender rolled her eyes.

"Hello, mister, use your eyes. Is it transparent?" Lavender snickered.

"Then where did you get this?" Erik demanded.

"Not without help from me," a motherly voice came out from behind them. Madam Giry was walking up the shore with a smile.

"Well, she told me of your…er…beloved organ being destroyed, so I thought that a new one would do some good," Madam Giry smiled.

Erik looked really touched. This had to be the first ever birthday party where Erik had received any presents at all. Lavender took from her back another present.

"Erik?" she said cheerfully. Erik turned to her and smiled.

"Yes?" he said softly.

"For you," Lavender announced, holding out the other small, box wrapped in colored paper.

Erik opened it. It contained a single piece of what looked like wood. Erik looked puzzled. He does not know what this is! Lavender thought.

"It is a part of your previous organ, Erik." Lavender said quietly, almost in a sad way.

Erik recognized the smooth, well-polished piece of wood, which was no doubt, taken from one of the keys. He looked at it. He knew, suddenly, that this key would not longer produce any more music. It is lifeless, no longer a soul, but just a small part of it. The beautiful instrument which once produced the music was dead, forever.

Erik felt another sharp pain of lost as he held the smooth piece of wood in his hands. He could feel the entire room watching him.

It is going to be hard for him to take, Lavender thought in despair. Maybe she should not have given him this; it had sobered him at once.

"Erik, please don't be sad. You have a new one now, one from your sister," Madam Giry placed a hand on Erik's shoulder. Meg nodded in agreement.

Erik nodded, before carefully putting the piece of wood into his pocket. Lavender looked tearful, but still managed a smile at Erik. Erik drew her into his arms in a hug. Deep in him, he felt a mixed type of feeling; half gratitude, half aching sadness.

That day, the birthday carried out in silence, as Madam Giry baked a cake for Erik, but they did not really speak. Lavender felt bad, it was her who ruined Erik's perfect day, which was rare in his lifetime.

That night, as Lavender was getting into bed, Erik came into her room.

"Well, I must thank you for this," he said quietly.

"I understand," Lavender replied.

"It was not as usual as my normal birthday. Usually, I would sit at my organ, playing songs, and thinking about you, and our parents," Erik whispered.

"It must be lonely, living by yourself here," Lavender said softly. Erik nodded.

"it is not normal for me to have someone to live with," he said.

"Well, I suppose that there is Meg, well, your life will be better," Lavender said, not meeting Erik's eyes.

"More than a thousand Meg would not worth as much as you to me," Erik smiled.

"Well, so, I suppose so. Good night," Lavender smiled back. Erik caught her by the hand.

"Wait, I have not yet made a wish," Erik said. Lavender smiled, and looked at Erik.

"What wish?"

Erik looked serious, "If….just if that the Vicompte were to kill you. I am not cursing you!" he added quickly, looking at the surprised look on Lavender's face.

"I mean, I just……." Erik was at a lost of words. What should he say?

"Go on?" Lavender probed him.

Erik took a deep breath. Lavender approached him.

"I know what you are going to say," she whispered.

"Live together, die together," they said in unison.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 41 (a new opera)

The next day, Lavender and Erik began working on another opera, which starred Meg as the diva.

"Erik! I am out of parchment!" Lavender cried from her room. Erik sighed, before getting up, he took a huge stack of parchment and proceeded to her room.

"Here you go!" he said, putting the stack of parchment onto her table. Lavender was sitting on the bench beside her piano. She was working furiously, scribbling on parchments after parchments.

"Which part are you working on?" Erik asked, sitting beside her on the bench.

"Flute, oboe, clarinet, piccolo, bassoon, and trumpet," Lavender said dreamily.

"No, I meant what songs you are working on."

"Oh." 

"Yeah?"

"What?"

"What?"

"Stop playing this with me." 

"I am not."

"Yes you are, now." 

"I am NOT!"

"Stop this, it is irritating."

"What is irritating?" 

"You need a rest."

"No I do not."

"Yes you do." 

"No I don't."

"Yes you do." 

"NO I DON'T!"

"You are sleepy, that's why you are grumpy," Erik said heavily.

Lavender threw down her pen in irritation.

"I repeat, Mr. understanding-problem, that I do not want to sleep!"

"You need to eat, at least?"

"No."

Erik became silence.

"Very well then, you have your way." With that, Erik stood up, and went away.

Stupid stupid Erik! Why must he be so nosy? Lavender thought very angrily. However, there was something that she must admit. Though she had denied so strongly that she was not tired, the truth remained that she was exhausted.

After working for another three or so hour, fatigue enveloped Lavender's entire body. She could feel the tiredness overwhelming. There was silence outside the room. Maybe Erik had gone off to bed, Lavender thought.

It is cool, really, for us to have telepathy. Lavender thought again. However, it was creepy. Just imagine thinking something and the other side knew what exactly you were thinking about. On the second thought, the telepathy saved Lavender's life many times.

Soon, however, Lavender began to feel that she would not be able to keep on much longer. Putting down her quill, she put on a night gown and climbed into bed. Snug under the warm blanket, she cursed herself for not getting into bed earlier. Within seconds she was asleep.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 42 (spring wedding)

Lavender was awoken by someone entering her room. Forcing her eyes open, she saw Erik walking in with a breakfast plate.

"Ah you are awake!" he said cheerfully.

Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Lavender focused on Erik's face.

"You looked happy today," she remarked.

"Yeah, I am," Erik said joyfully.

"Why?" Lavender asked.

"Because me and Meg are getting married."

"Good for you!" Lavender smiled. She was beginning to feel ill again. Maybe she should not overwork in the future.

"We are planning a spring wedding, in January. Which is quite close to now, and we need your help," Erik said gently.

"For what?" Lavender stared at her brother.

"We need you to be the bride's maid."

"No, look for someone else, I am not going to be a bride's maid."

Erik took his sister's hands in his, trying to warm them.

"It would be fun, don't worry. Bailey will be the one offering the ring."

Bailey, who was lying on the carpet sprang up on the mention of her name and trotted over to Lavender. as if praying with her, Bailey looked up at Lavender with huge, big, watery eyes. Lavender scratched Bailey behind the ears.

"Oh, alright then, but don't make me do all the stupid things," she said lightly. Erik grinned, or more like smirked.

"Very well, finish your breakfast and help Meg with her wedding dress, she is having a lot of trouble." So saying, Erik got up, and left.

After breakfast, Lavender took a roll of dress material into the main chamber to find Erik and Meg fussing over a dress design.

"No! Listen to me, Meg; I have built beautiful houses and architectures. I know the perfect color to match you!"

"Houses? Do I look like a house to you? This is about clothes, Erik, not houses, excuse me?"

"What is going on?" Lavender snapped, setting down her materials soundly on the table.

"Lavender, which color does you like? White or light blue?" Meg said, before Erik could open his mouth.

Lavender walked over and snatched the design from them. She looked carefully at them, and then turned them upside down.

"Excuse me, these designs are suppose to be the other way round," Erik growled.

Lavender looked a while more, before looking up and said.

"I suggest neither blue nor white!" she declared.

"Then what color?" said Erik and Meg at the same time.

"Emerald green with golden tops," Lavender said calmly, rolling up the parchment on which the previous design was drawn.

"What? But it does not match me!" Meg said.

"Yes it does. The top matches your hair, and the bottom matches Erik's eyes, and mine," Lavender said proudly.

"She's got a point," Erik said thoughtfully.

"What about my hair?" Meg asked.

"Well, we can wash it and comb it wavy," Lavender said again. Meg thought about it for awhile.

"Why not bundles it together?" she asked excitedly after a few seconds.

"No, I would prefer you to regain your natural self, perhaps a few glitter flowers or two but that's the most," Lavender said seriously.

"The veil?" Erik asked.

"Same color as the dress," Lavender replied.

"What about him?" Meg asked, gesturing towards Erik.

"Oh! For you, er….." Lavender seemed to be at a lost to say.

"Well?" Erik asked.

"Do you have a design for that as well?" Lavender asked.

"Sure," Erik gave her the design.

"Very well then, deep emerald green and no capes," Lavender announced after a few minutes of pursuing the design.

"No capes?" Erik looked disappointed.

"No, strictly no. Attending a wedding in capes? You would look as though you wanted to strangle someone," Lavender scoffed.

Meg laughed, Erik looked slightly uncomfortable.

"No capes," Lavender announced finally. Erik and Meg exchange looks.

"What about you?" they said in unison.

"Me? Do I have a design as well?" Lavender asked.

Erik handed her another design.

"Emerald green," Lavender said, after looking at the design for awhile.

"Flowers?" Meg asked.

"Roses and lavenders," Lavender said again.

After a few moments of correcting of the design, they moved on to the tables and chairs.

"I have some relatives who would like to attend the wedding," Meg said slowly. Lavender looked at Erik.

"We?" Erik asked uncertainly.

"Bailey," Lavender snapped.

Meg giggled. Erik looked as if he was going to do the same when he cleared his throat and continued.

"Tablet cloth?" Erik asked.

"Light green with golden laces," Lavender said without a thought.

"Flowers on the tables?" Meg asked.

"Silver golden bowls overflowing with lavender and roses," Lavender answered.

"Chair comforters?" Erik asked.

"Emerald green," Lavender said again.

"Well, basically everything is green?" Erik asked.

"Yeah, it matches your eyes," Lavender said, exhausted.

Erik got up to get lunch. Meg looked at the designs again.

"We have not designed for Bailey yet!" she said after a few minutes.

"Emerald green suite with something to hold the ring," Lavender yawned.

After lunch, they continued with the designs and planning. At the end of the day, Lavender was so tired that she could hardly hold up her head. Erik felt her forehead.

"Another fever. No more work for you tomorrow. You are overworking yourself!" he said with a sigh. Meg carried in a pail of warm water and began to dap Lavender's forehead with a towel.

"Don't worry about the wedding. You have done us a great job today," Meg said lovingly.

"Yeah, just hope that it would go on smoothly," Lavender said tiredly.

Lavender rolled over and fell asleep. In her dreams, she dreamt of the wedding, carried out exactly like the way she wanted it to be; with her walking Meg up the aisle in green and Erik, handsome and formal waiting. Bailey would then trot up towards them carrying the ring which Lavender made for them.

Contented, Lavender slept deeply, but she did not know that the wedding would not be as smooth. Somewhere a mile away, the Vicompte was planning.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 43 (spring wedding, dark and evil)

The next few weeks passed quickly; before Lavender knew, it was a day before the wedding. She had gotten their dresses and suites from the tailor. Everything was going on smoothly, so far. They all went to bed, anticipating the next day.

The wedding day came. Lavender awoke early that morning, combed and brushed her hair. The wedding was to be held at Meg's church, where all the sisters and nuns had agreed to attend. Meg was in Madam Giry's house right now. Lavender went to help.

Meg was sitting by a large mirror, her hair was a total mess, Lavender set the dress down.

"How are you doing? Miss Froney?" Lavender asked kindly.

"Not good," Meg covered her face with her hands, before letting out a moan.

"Here, let me help," Lavender offered.

After an hour of brushing, combing, and trying on the dress, Meg was ready. Now, Lavender's next job was Erik.

Erik was no different. His hair was untidy, and he was still in his dressing gown.

Lavender trimmed his hair, thinned it. She had not allowed Erik to wear a wig.

"It makes you look puffy haired," she told him.

So once Lavender had settled Erik, she turned her attention to Bailey. The dog was unusually excited. Lavender had a hard time getting it into its suite. Very soon, Lavender's hair was messy, and she too, was undress.

Great! She thought sarcastically. Fancy them not able to take care of themselves? She took a shower, and put on the dress. She looked beautiful in it. Next, Lavender combed her slightly wavy hair, before fastening a clip on it. "So far so good," she muttered.

"Hey, Lavender, we must get going!" Erik called.

"Coming!" she yelled back.

With the cart driving out of the busy city, they arrived at a small church where the wedding was supposed to be held. So busy was they in minding their own business, they did not notice a black cart following them, before coming to a complete stop behind a few trees which hid then from view.

Lavender met Meg in the church. She had brought with her a bouquet of flowers.

"Don't panic, Meg, just stay cool," Lavender said a thousand times. The door to the main aisle opened, and Meg began her walk through the aisle towards her husband. Lavender followed behind. Very good, she thought.

To Meg, walking towards Erik took like almost a year. He was dressed in the planed suit, with his usual white, well-polished mask. He looked irresistible, she thought. Thanks, Lavender! Meg thought happily. She would not be able to repay the girl once this was over.

The usual scripts were read. When Meg and Erik were pronounced husband and wife, everyone in the room clapped. Lavender among them. To her, Erik looked happier had he in his life. Satisfied, she walked off, with Bailey at her heels.

She turned a corner, and started down a deserted ally in the church. It was dark, and Lavender felt a bit scared. She was coming to the end of the corridor when someone pounced on her, forcing her to the ground.

Lavender tried to scream, but no sound came out. The scream was lost, in fright at her lips. She felt someone roughly tying her hands up with spiky ropes that cut into her hands. Oh my god, Erik, help me! Lavender thought desperately. She tried to fight back, but the man was too strong, and Lavender had neither her sword nor arrows with her right now. It gripped her; she was defenseless.

The man grasped her neck and look into her face. Lavender managed to catch a full view of the man's face. It was the Vicompte.

"It's you!" she managed to gasped. Raoul slapped her, shutting her up. He gripped her roughly and half drag, half pulled her into a nearby cart waiting, he threw her in.

Lavender landed on the rough surface, wincing in pain. She felt the wheels beneath her began to move as the cart creaked into motion. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was kidnapped.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 44 (Missing angel)

Meanwhile, in the main room, everyone was having a good time. Erik, however, was not.

"Where's Lavender?" he asked Meg.

"No idea, she could have ran off," she said anxiously.

They searched every inch of the room for Lavender, but she was not found.

Just as they were puzzling and guessing the places where she might be, Bailey came bouncing up to Erik, looking frightened.

"What is it, Bailey?" Erik asked urgently. The dog just kept barking and tugging the hems of Erik's suite. There was a clear expression in Bailey's eyes. Come with me, please, Lavender's in trouble, those big, glassy eyes said. Erik dashed after the dog.

"Stay here, Meg, I will be right back!" he called behind his back.

Erik sprinted with Bailey down to the dark corridor where Lavender was abducted. He looked around. No Lavender nothing.

"Bailey, where is she?" Erik asked the dog, who was still tugging his suite. They were starting to walk out of the tunnel, exiting the church into the night. Erik looked around again. still, nothing. Suddenly, something caught his eyes. he walked over. It was….

A lavender. A flower.

Erik clutched the flower tightly in his hands. No, this cannot be, he thought desperately, when someone grabbed him from behind on the neck.

Erik choked, and felt himself being thrown onto the floor. He blinked. Though the moon light was not bright, he could still make out the long, blonde hair and boyish face of Raoul.

"What are you doing here?" Erik snarled.

"Getting my revenge," Raoul spat, he pulled out a sword.

"Where is Lavender, and what did you do to her?" Erik demanded. He knew it would be a losing battle. Raoul had sword and he had nothing.

"Stilling worrying about her? I think it is time you worry about your life!" Raoul yelled, before trying to stab the phantom. Erik dodged, easily.

"Return her to me this instance!" Erik yelled. Raoul did not answer. They fought. Erik quickly knew that it would not be long before the Vicompte would do away with him. After what seemed like an hour to Erik, the Vicompte managed to kick him to the ground.

Weak, after all the fighting, Erik tried to get up, but was pushed back onto the floor when Raoul placed one foot onto Erik's chest, forcing to remain on the ground. Opening his eyes, Erik saw the sword reflecting the moonlight. It was pointing at his heart.

"Well, that would make big news, the phantom of the opera, subdued by the Vicompte de Chaney," Raoul's voice was filled with hunger for power and vengeance.

Erik felt himself being shoved off his feet and flung into a waiting cart nearby.

"Where are you taking me?" He yelled at Raoul. Raoul smirked.

"Somewhere far from here," Raoul snarled.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 45 (Reunited in hell)

After driving for another hour, Erik felt the door opened, and him being roughly grabbed and marched into an underground place. It was dimly lit, with only one lamp. It was freezing in it.

He heard a lock turned and him being thrown painfully onto a straw surface.

Panting, Erik got up, he looked around. He was in a prison. A cage. Hell. Like his heart when Christine was snatched away from him. Now he was attacked by the same person!

He surveyed his surroundings. It was a small room, with stone walls and a thin layer of straw. Erik was about to stand up when he spotted a limp figure on the ground. It was not moving.

Cautiously, Erik approached it. It looked like a dead animal. It was claded in green. With a sudden feeling of surprise, Erik turned the figure round. He gasped. It was Lavender.

"Lavender!" he cried. Lavender was barely conscious. Her hands were tied behind her back. Erik began to work it loose. He had many experience of it when he was young, and this proved to be easy to untie. He managed to free Lavender's hands after awhile.

He looked at the pair of hands which used to write so many beautiful songs. It was covered in blisters where the rope had done their damage. Lavender's white wrist was now covered in a dark, ugly red. Erik felt rage pumping through his veins. Lavender! His heart was pained, again. He held Lavender close to his body, trying to give her warmth. Lavender was, thankfully, breathing; but very slightly.

"Well, well, well, how touching!" Erik heard a sarcastic voice out in the dark corridor. He turned. Sure enough, the Vicompte was standing there, arms akimbo, looking at him. There were a couple of burly men holding weapons.

"You wait, till I get out of here, you would not be spared!" Erik snarled.

"Get out of here? I don't think…oh, yes, of course, you would be able to, but dead!" Raoul let out a mad laugh.

"Should we, master?" one of the men asked.

"No, don't be so hurry. No one would be able to rescue them here. They would die, but painfully," Raoul smirked.

"You heartless creature, spare my sister, would you?" Erik yelled.

"No, definitely not. She would more than trouble to deal with. Impaled by you from the start, she would not be a clean piece of paper, I would do away with her too, don't worry," Raoul said, his tone icy.

Erik felt a dead drop in his stomach. Raoul was right, it was all his fault Lavender got herself landed in this kind of situation. If he had not wanted to take her back from her parents, she would not be close to death like now. He looked at the silent figure in his arms. She looked a kind of lifeless. Remember our promise, Lavender? Erik thought sadly.

He heard footsteps, and soon, they were wrapped in darkness, cold, and rage.

There must be a way out! He thought desperately. Carefully, he placed Lavender onto the straw and began to feel along the wall for a small crack or opening. None. Next, Erik studied the lock. It was an old-fashion one, with strong bolts and steel chains. It was almost impossible for them to get out.

Erik felt dread creeping up his throat. They were going to die, die of cold. He buried his face in his hands. He ran his hand through his hair and……he suddenly sat straight. The hair pin. Lavender had placed some pins in his hair because they just would not lay flat. Surely the pin….Erik felt a rush of gratitude to the pin. He had always being a professional lock-opener. He took one pin out from his hair, and as noiselessly as he could, began his tiresome job.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 46 (failure attempt)

Erik worked at the lock for minutes, but began to think that it was hopeless. It did not work. Great, we were just going to freeze to death in this dog's place! Erik thought angrily. He heard Lavender moved.

"Lavender, are you alright?" Erik asked anxiously. Lavender sat up giddily. Her face was dreadfully pale and her eyes unfocused. Another fever, concluded Erik.

"Were you the one who was making that horrible noise just now?" Lavender asked, her voice was weak.

"Yeah, I was trying to get us out," Erik said, trying to sound assuring.

"No, it's useless. I can, but I need to know where are we now," Lavender replied.

Erik was taken aback at her confidence on getting out, but knowing where they were was not going to be easy.

"Why?" Erik asked, curiously.

"Never mind that, just find out," Lavender said.

Erik crept along the walls, trying to make out something. But he could not. He was about to give up when something caught his eyes.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 47 (Path of light)

At a corner of the cubicle, a single symbol was carved upon the wall. Excited, he showed it to Lavender.

"Look! There, on the wall. Does it help?" Erik said, pointing it to Lavender.

Lavender found the symbol familiar. In all the time she spent in Erik's lair, she had spent time reading on Paris' history, and different symbols. She thought hard.

"Ancient path of light…..path of hope. Grr…what was it that I am suppose to remember?" Lavender muttered, her face screwed up with concentration.

"Ancient path of light……source of light…..source…..oil lamp!" Lavender exclaimed. She looked frantically around. There, on the wall sat an ancient oil lamp, but it was outside the cell. Lavender's heart drop.

Suddenly, she brightened up. Why was there only one oil lamp?

"What is it?" Erik asked.

"Erik, listen. This is a mansion, a small one. We are in the mansion's cell. This mansion, also called the _la cante_ mansion was once a church. After a rich tyrant brought this, he transformed this into his home. However, the tyrant did many cruel crimes in his life and when he died, he was buried right here, somewhere in this prison, his body was buried. However, histories findings have revealed that he kept several prisoners whom, I presumed are all locked in this very chamber. They managed to get away, after what seemed to them to be the blessing from god. As I have mentioned, that this used to be a church, I believe that it holds a small opening to the churchyard outside," Lavender said excitedly.

"So, what has that got to do with the oil lamp?" Erik asked.

" The ancient path of light. In the Roman history, they always have a symbol of light, which consists of mainly two lamps, or lanterns. It was believed that this was the way that the prisoners escape. They have escaped into to bright churchyard, into freedom. Presently, we have found one lamp, but the other one should be in this chamber. The lamps are always opposite each other, and the outside one is directly pointing to the wall behind us," Lavender said, pointing backwards. Erik did a double take of joy. There was going to be hope, after all.

Erik began to ran his hands on the wall, trying to find something protruding out of the wall.

"Maybe the Vicompte took it off?" Lavender asked fearfully.

"Can't have, he is too stupid to know about history," Erik growled.

Lavender's point was proven when Erik's hand hit something hard sideways. He blinked in the dark. It was a random shape, not very much like a lamp. He dusted away from of the dusts that had settled on it. It was….

A symbol, another symbol. There were two semi circles facing each other, but not together. There was a line passing through both semicircles and there was a shape of a diamond in the middle of the line and the semicircles.

"Um, Lavender, I have found something, but I am sure that it is not a lamp," Erik said softly. Lavender walked over. She looked at the symbol.

"This is it!" she breathed.

"What?" Erik asked.

"The symbol of light," Lavender said in awe. She felt the symbol in the dark.

"How did the prisoners got out?" Erik asked, puzzled.

"They were all educated men. They all studied symbols and histories of Rome. There must be something which I am lacking," Lavender said under her breath. Suddenly, Erik stood up again. He unfastened another hair pin. He walked over to the wall where the symbol was engraved.

There, situated in the middle of the diamond was a small hole, small enough for Erik's hairpin to be inserted in. carefully, Erik pushed the hairpin into it. There was suddenly low groan as a tight passageway was opened at the same wall. There was no light at the end of the passageway.

"It must still be night," Lavender said. Exchanging a quick look, they entered the passageway.

"Good thing you read about history," Erik said, putting the hairpin back into his hair. Lavender smiled, before the two of them began hurrying down the passageway.

Very soon, they reached the end of the corridor. There was another hole. Erik unlocked it. The door moved, but did not open. Erik threw his entire weight onto the door, but without luck.

"There must be something pushing against it, at the side of it," Erik groaned as he tried in vain again.

Thinking, Lavender told herself, think. She began to push the wall together with Erik. Suddenly, the door gave way as they tumbled out into the cool of the night in the churchyard. 

They looked around. A cemetery. With old gravestones standing up upon the ancient ground.

"I don't really like to be locked up in a prison but neither would I want to be in the cemetery," Lavender whispered, scared. Erik placed his arm around his sister.

"This way," he said, pointing north. They were going fine, until Erik spotted a hut-like building along the way. He walked over.

"What is it, Erik?" Lavender called. Erik did not answer. Comprehension dawned on to him.

"Christine." Tears began their way down Erik's face. There was it, it was Christine's grave. Silently, he pulled a rose out of his suite, and placed it, lovingly on the steps of the grave. He said a quick prayer.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 48 (Down once more)

Erik turned to leave.

"Lavender?" he called. Where did she go, again? He thought.

"Lavender?" Erik tried, repeatedly to find his sister. Still, no success.

Something's not right, and Erik knew it. It was too quiet in the graveyard, as though someone was holding their breath. He walked over to where Lavender used to be standing. His heart stopped.

There, on the graveyard ground laid a pool of something which Erik did not know, but the answer was soon revealed when he bent down and touched it. Blood. The red liquid of life came into contact with Erik's finger. No! Erik thought desperately. There was more blood on the ground than that in a teenager's body; that means that Lavender………..

Erik was stunned. Shakily, he raised his head and looked at the environment. There, lying nearby was a bloody knife. Lavender, however, was no where to be found.

Erik's heart froze. She's dead. Lavender's dead. He picked up the knife.

The handle of the deadly weapon was cold in his hands. Erik felt the feeling of a terrible feeling of lost in his stomach. Somehow, he had wanted to cry, but tears just would not come out.

"Erik!" he heard a girl's voice. He spurned around. There, running towards him was Meg. She was looking frightened, her mother at her heels.

"Erik! Where's Lavender?" Meg asked, out of breath.

Erik did not answer, but only showed them the bloody knife. There was a moment of silence, and then Meg broke down.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 49 (in the minds of a prisoner)

To Lavender, the journey down back to the prison was a blur. She was looking at Erik kneeling before the grave, and the next moment, there was someone who grabbed her from behind. She was muffled, and could only watch in horror as the Vicompte poured out a bucket full of pig's blood onto the ground and threw a bloody knife nearby. He's faking my death! Lavender thought. She had tried to scream for Erik, but was knocked out by Raoul.

She felt as though all the wind was forced out of her when Raoul threw her into a small room. This time, however, no locks or bars were shut. Instead, someone helped her up.

"Wh-Who are you?" Lavender asked, frightened.

"Don't be scared, my name is Kelly. Who are you?" Lavender blinked in the dark for awhile, and answered.

"Lavender."

"Why are you here?" Lavender asked. A girl came into the light. She was about 20, with neatly combed hair and an expression of shock and pity for Lavender.

"For talking aloud in public of the Opera Ghost. The Vicompte thought that I was in direct contact with him. He abducted me," Kelly said softly.

"And why are you here?" Kelly asked suddenly. Lavender did not know whether to tell her or not. It did not matter now, anyway.

"I…I was...was the O...Opera Ghost's…" Lavender stuttered. Kelly raised an eyebrow.

"Opera ghost's what?" she probed.

"Sister, he is my brother," Lavender said guiltily.

"Oh my god, you are what? His sister?" Kelly's hands flew to her mouth.

"Yeah, he is a great brother, really," Lavender shrugged.

Kelly's great blue eyes grew wide with amazement. She pointed to a chair at the corner.

"Take a seat, you look tired," Kelly said kindly. Lavender gratefully accepted.

"Do you know any way out of here?" Lavender asked.

"No, sorry. I had being shut in here for only two days. This is the Vicompte's er….office?" Kelly said. Lavender's heart sank. They were trapped.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 50 (please believe me)

Meg knew that confronting Erik with the lost of Lavender would be anything but easy. Erik was a wreck; he was in a daze from that day onwards. Meg would watch silently with tears flowing as Erik stared at a sprig of lavender aimlessly. Sometimes, Erik would toss and turn in his sleep.

"Erik, I am sorry Lavender is dead, really," said Meg one evening. Erik was slumped in his chair, stirring his tea and looking at Meg with unfocused eyes.

"Erik?" Meg asked, scared.

"Lavender…..Lavender…." Erik moaned. Meg walked over and put her hand comfortingly on Erik's shoulder. Erik gave a cry, and collapsed.

Things got really out of hand one day when Meg returned to find Erik standing on a stool and putting a rope around his own neck. Meg screamed for him to come down and prevented the awful happenings before Erik could kick the stool away. Erik's suicide attempts also included poisons. Meg had to beg for him to put down a cup of poisoned wine before Erik downed it.

Meg was getting into her bed when she heard Erik screaming Lavender's name. she made her way to him.

"Erik….." tears started flowing again, down Meg's face. She stroked the visible side of Erik's face. Suddenly, Erik gripped her hand in a vice-like grip. Meg flinched.

"Lavender?" Erik's voice was filled with love and hope. Meg knew he was hallucinating.

"Lavender?" Erik said again. his unfocused eyes were suddenly filled with a sudden peace and passion.

"Oh, Lavender, I am sorry, I would never do that to you again. please forgive me," Erik moaned. His face was pale and his knuckles were icy.

"Erik, Lavender's dead," Meg said, but regretted it later, as Erik took a suddenly gasp and fell unconscious.

For the next few days, Erik laid in bed. He was becoming sick, thought Meg. He would stay awake all night, staring at the ceiling in a state of horror. the once genius was becoming a shadow, a mere immortal soul.

They were at lunch one day when Erik grabbed his arm.

"What is it, Erik?" Meg asked, concerned. Erik's eyes were closed and he was shaking his head.

"No, not like this, no, don't do this to her. Please, don't, don't, don't. no, not my sister. No, no, no, stop it, stop the torture. Please, STOP!" Erik's bright green eyes snapped open. He looked wildly around.

"Raoul just strike Lavender on the arm," Erik said in a whisper.

"What?" Meg asked, frightened.

"Raoul just hurt my sister," Erik said loudly.

"No, Erik, don't be ridiculous, Lavender is dead." Meg said, sadly.

"No! she's not! Raoul is torturing her, please believe me!" Erik said, his voice rising to a shout.

"But…."

"I am going for her this moment!" Erik said, jumping up and taking his cape. He stumbled over a rock and his entire body splashed into the cold, freezing lake. Meg screamed, and went forward to help. Erik lay slumped in the water and was panting, as though he had just run a mile.

"No, Lavender, no, run, don't let him catch you," Erik was mumbling. Meg helped him into the room and sent for her mother.

"Mom, I think Erik is getting mad," Meg said breathlessly as Madam Giry walked briskly into the room.

"What happened?" Madam Giry asked, looking down at the phantom, who was breathing quick, fast breaths and looking pale.

"Well, he started saying something about Lavender getting strike by the Vicompte on the arm. He grabbed his own arm at the time. Then he began to rant about Lavender being alive and that he had to go and help her. So he fell into the lake," Meg said all this very fast.

"But other than that, he was fine?" Madam Giry asked anxiously.

Oh, he's fine, besides trying to kill himself several times a day; he was absolutely fine, thought Meg. She nodded.

Madam Giry gently pulled up Erik's left arm. Both Girys gasped. Erik's muscular arm had a long, dark red mark on it; it looked as though someone had used something hot and pressed it to the skin.

"Did he try to cut himself?" Madam Giry asked, frightened.

"No, he did not. He was never out of my sight these days," replied Meg, whose big brown eyes were filled with tears.

"What happened?" Madam Giry mumbled.

Suddenly, Meg remembered Erik telling her something thing about his and Lavender's connected feelings.

"Mum, listen. I was having lunch with Erik one day a few weeks ago and he told me about this strange connection between him and Lavender," Meg said quickly.

"What do you mean by strange connection?" Madam Giry asked.

"Well…it….well…I don't really believe him but he claimed that he could feel how Lavender feels about a person, an emotion and physical and mental pain," Meg said softly.

Madam Giry looked both shocked and surprised.

"Why, do you think this is true?" Meg asked her mother.

"No, I think this is very unlikely. Erik must have just hit his arm on somewhere hot or what," Madam Giry said in a firm voice. But even in her mind, she knew that Erik hitting his arm somewhere and obtaining the injury was impossible. He was wearing layers of clothes at the moments and Meg did not really let him out of her sight around the clock.

"What are we to do now?" Meg asked, worried.

"Take very good care of him; he is really weak at the moment. If he continues to behave in this way, we will see," madam Giry said sadly. Meg nodded.

She sat down beside the bed. Oh Erik, Meg thought sadly. What happened? She only knew that the Vicompte had being involved in this. Erik's words were carved in her mind, "please believe me, please believe me……" Meg shivered, should she? She could easily put the thought of sibling telepathy out of her mind, but could it be true?


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 51 (Hell)

Lavender looked at her arm in shock. It was all coming back to her now. She was once again kidnapped by Raoul. She had not seen sunlight for two days, but it did not matter since she had lived with Erik and sunlight had become foreign to her. The thought of Erik was cruel to her, tormenting her mind and stabbing at her heart.

Kelly was civil to her, often asking how she was, and offering Lavender her portion of food.

"Come on, don't worry. We will be able to get out soon enough," said Kelly, patting Lavender on the back.

The room was really modern, with rows and rows of lanterns. No amount of history is going to help you now, thought Lavender sadly. That was true, for the walls were covered with parchments and notes. Maybe Erik would come for me? Lavender thought with a hint of hope. No, he will not, he has being convinced that I am dead, Lavender thought again, hope evaporating as fast as it came.

Raoul came in to check on them ever so frequently. There was no bed in the room, so Kelly and Lavender had to sleep on the floor. It was winter, and the temperature in the room had dropped so drastically over night that Lavender awoke in the middle of the night, breathing mist out of her mouth. Raoul had not bothered to lit a fire, so the two girls froze. Lavender's thin dress was not able to keep her warm enough, as she cowered in fear at the corner of the room, trying to keep the cold out of her bones. Still, winter was merciless as it blew through the cracks in the old wall. Kelly was kind, she put her own cloak around Lavender in an effort to keep the girl warm. On the fourth day, Lavender began to feel a fever coming.

"Do these fevers come often?" Kelly asked anxiously, putting her hand on Lavender's forehead. Lavender nodded.

"Yes, it is terrible," Lavender said.

Still, as the weather got colder, Kelly began to worry that Lavender might not pull through the hash winter to spring.

"Kelly, what did they want to capture us for?" Lavender asked weakly before bed once.

"Well, for you, they wanted to change your mindset, by faking your death, the Opera Ghost would never er… 'pollute' your mind," Kelly said doubtfully.

"Then what about you?"

Kelly hesitated. "I was kidnapped for money."

Lavender nodded, staring into a corner of the room. what unfair world I am staying in, she thought.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 52 (two separate souls)

Erik was awoken by severe stabs of cold. He looked around. There was a merry fire crackling in the fireplace and he was lying beneath layers of warm blanket. Still, he felt the bone-chilling cold. He closed his eyes, and thought he heard a girl's voice calling his name.

_Erik! Erik!_

Erik opened his eyes again. Lavender, he thought, the usual feeling of dread and angst came back to him. I've got to go and get her! He thought again, grabbing his cape. But where was she hidden? He thought. The Vicompte could have easily moved his hostages to somewhere else.

Damn! Erik thought angrily, tossing his cloak aside again. but there was it, a voice, calling in his head.

"Lavender," Erik began sobbing into his hands. Lavender. just the name hurt. he remembered how Lavender cowered away from him when they first met, and those silly tricks which she played on them.

The exploding fruit bowl, Erik thought. At least these thoughts gave him something to cheer up upon, but he knew that forever, he would never be able to see the real thing.

I've got to persuade Meg and Madam Taller Giry that Lavender is alive! Erik thought desperately. I've got to………

"Meg! You got to believe me, Lavender's alive!" Erik yelled, as the blonde girl entered the room. Meg stopped in her tracks.

"What?" she asked.

"LAVENDER'S ALIVE AND WE GOT TO GO AND HELP HER!" Erik shouted.

Meg looked shocked.

"Erik, lay off that thought, she will never be alive, you had proof that she is dead," Meg said slowly.

"THE VICOMPTE IS FAKING IT! DAMN YOU! CAN YOU JUST COME ALONG TO HE…"

"Really, Erik, you got to get your mindset right!"

"YOU NEED TO DO THAT! WE GOT TO HELP HER!"

"Erik! Trust me, there is nothing we can do!" 

"FINE! THEN I WILL GO MYSELF!"

So saying, Erik swung his cloak over his shoulders and walked out of the room before Meg could stop him.

Outside, Erik grabbed his sword and stepped into the gondola. With strong stroke, he was off.

"Erik! Wait! Erik?" Meg called, running out of the room.

"Damn!" Meg thought angrily. She grabbed her own cloak and rowed after Erik in the smaller gondola.

She climbed up the shore, looking around. In the distance, fading sound of horse hoofs reached her ears. 

"MUM! I need a horse, any kind, right now!" Meg said, as Madam Giry walked up in front of her.

"Why?" Madam Giry said slowly.

"Don't ask, just give me the damn horse!" Meg screamed. Her mother gave her one and within minutes, she was out in the cold, speeding after her husband.

She watched as Erik began to ride south, towards the countryside. Maybe he really knew where to go! Meg thought. At nightfall, they were no yet reaching. Meg's arms began to sore from holding up the railings, and she was tired.

"Erik! Turn back!" she shouted. Erik stopped, and dismounted.

"Did I tell you to follow me?" he asked in a deadly voice. Meg tilted her chin up defiantly.

"So? You will get lost!" she said.

"No, I will never get lost, now go away," Erik said a little too harshly.

"How can I be sure that you know where to go?" Meg asked again, getting irritated.

Erik grew rigid. He spun around, his sapphire eyes dancing with flames.

"I KNOW PERFECTLY WHERE TO GO! NOW GO AWAY!"

What a nice guy he is, thought Meg sarcastically. She would follow him, in case he need help.

Up ahead, Erik began to feel really tired. He had being riding for no less than 3 hours, and the cold was beginning to suffocate him. You will kill yourself, his instinct warned him. Don't care, he thought fiercely, I will go ahead and save my sister.

By midnight, he was almost slipping off his horse. I will stop for the night, he thought. He found a nearby shade and hooked his horse up to the pole, spread his cloak out for a more comfortable spot to sleep. He was soon asleep, his dreams mauled by the cries for help from his sister.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 53 (Fading flower)

Lavender was getting sicker and sicker. A normal cold had faded into pneumonia and drawing breath was an agony to her. Kelly was worried, as she watched Lavender becoming thinner and sicker.

Raoul had not bothered, as usual, but when he heard that Lavender was dangerously ill, he had someone to give Lavender medicines and syrup in order to cure. However, Lavender was allergic to syrup and her entire body broke out in red spots.

"I don't she would last much longer," said the doctor quietly to Raoul.

"Not in this kind of condition, though," the old doctor continued. Raoul nodded, and promised to give Lavender a better room and a bed to sleep in. I would do otherwise, thought Raoul, when the old doctor left.

"Really, boss, the girl is fading away. She would die, and the country police would accuse us of a murder," complained a burly slut who lived in the small mansion.

"Use your brains, she would not die," said the Vicompte stubbornly.

However, after a few days, he began to trust what his mates were saying. I have got to do something! He thought desperately.

"We will ditch her, throw her to somewhere where no one would be able to find her," Raoul told his mates one morning.

"What if someone were to know?" his friends asked anxiously.

"They will not, we will throw her into some forests and stuff, you know, and no one will know," Raoul said in a low voice. They decided; Lavender would go next Monday and Kelly will be killed.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 54 (Clinging on to hopes)

_Erik! They wanted to ditch me! They wanted to! I heard their plans! Please help me!_

Erik was shaken awake by a frantic praying. Lavender, he thought, sitting up straight. As his vision began to clear, he realised that he was lying upon the floor of a small hut.

He groaned, sat up. His hand automatically flew to his head. There was a terrible throbbing in his temple, like as if he was sick. Lavender! Erik's immediate thought was the girl, waiting for his rescue.

"Lavender," Erik whispered, burying his face in his hands. He felt weak, and he knew that Lavender was dreadfully sick. She will die! He thought angrily. Erik stood up, but collapsed upon the straw ground almost instantly. His head hit the cold hard ground, pain searing in his temple. Do I deserve this? Erik thought hopelessly. He suddenly felt a pair of hands lifted him to his feet. He spun around. It was Meg.

Meg had seen Erik fell. She rushed forward to help.

"Erik, you need to let it go. I know it is hard for you at first, but just let it go," Meg said sadly. Erik roughly pushed her away.

"Let me go, you…" Meg saw a blankness in his eyes, which told her that he was not himself at that moment. Meg took Erik by the hand and began to firmly drag him towards the waiting Cesar. What a shock she got when she felt a suddenly dull pain at the back of her head and the next moment, all the wind had being knocked out from her. Blinded by pain, Meg collapsed, unconscious.

Erik glared at the limp figure of the woman before him. To his own surprise, he felt no remorse. His only destine was to find his sister and to bring her back. Erik leaped onto Cesar smoothly, before taking off again in the wind.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 55 (Fading angel)

Lavender felt herself slipping further and further away towards her end. She had lost her power to stand. Kelly as getting more and more worried; all she could do every day was to watch the girl becoming more and more sick by the seconds.

Erik, where are you? Lavender would think every minute of the day when she was better. Now, all she could think about was the dread on seeing a light in her bed. If I was given a wish, I would wish to see Erik again, Lavender thought weakly. However, she knew that the wish was becoming more and more difficult. Erik would have thought that she was dead.

On that dreadful morning, Lavender was awoken by Kelly's rough shaking.

"What?" Lavender mumbled sleepily.

"They are thinking of ditching us, not me, you," Kelly's voice was shaking.

"Why?" Lavender asked.

"Because they do not want you to die on them," Kelly said softly, trying to hide the truth.

Lavender laid back in a sigh. Great, my life is great, she thought sarcastically.

"What about you?" Lavender asked.

Kelly shook her head.

"Go back to sleep, don't bother yourself with all these, you are weak enough already," Kelly said. Lavender closed her eyes, not at all noticing the tears welling up in Kelly's eyes, dreading the day after tomorrow.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 56 (reunited)

Lavender awoke the following morning, a huge pitch in her stomach, knowing that 24 hours later, god knows where she would be. Burying her face in her hand, she sobbed quietly to herself. Through her closed eyelids, she could see the history, with her and Erik playing tricks on Carlotta, the April fool's day. In all those memories, she was smiling, not at all knowing that that would be her last April fool's. Those memories would all fad away, leaving her soul empty and lonely.

"Erik, please, find me," Lavender cried.

That night, Lavender looked up at the ceiling, her head leaning on the cold, hard floor. She could feel unconsciousness slipping by, but was too frightened to sleep.

_Give it up, girl, just give up….._

Lavender's mind was trying to coax her to sleep.

_Give it up, you know its time, just go to sleep, it would be painless……._

_NO! _

As though shaken awake, Lavender heard this strong, firm, voice in her head. What? She thought.

_Don't give up hope. Please don't. _

Erik! Lavender thought with a hint of hope.

_I'm coming, don't let go, keep holding on, and just keep holding on. Please………_

Lavender felt a sudden wave of sadness. Maybe she was just hallucinating, maybe…… Or was that horse hoof that she heard in the distant? In the pitch blackness of the night, all she heard was the cricking of crickets and cooing of the grave birds.

Lavender, at that point of time suddenly gave in to sleep. I am sorry Erik, I had to let go, it's too much for me to take, Lavender thought.

It almost seemed like a century to Erik, who rode across dark graveyard to the small mansion. It was getting dark, gold clouds drifting into the distance, and the sun scurried behind the ghostly mansion.

Suddenly, a sudden rush of footsteps forced Erik to hide in the growing shadows. Thanks to his black outfit, he was not found easily. He hid in it for another seemed like an hour to him, the footsteps were gone, and Erik was ready to emerge again.

He stepped out from the shadows, cautiously taking his Punjab lasso out from underneath his cloak. Where's that damned place her kept her? He thought fiercely.

A sudden rustle behind him caused him to jump.

"Who's there?" a hoarse voice called out, very close behind him.

"Oh, nothing, just……walking around," Erik snarled, trying to keep his voice calm. He glared at the approaching figure. Who ever it was, he held an oil lamp.

Not good, Erik thought desperately. The man was holding a revolver. Not good, the appearance of this man was a disturbance to him. Erik gripped his lasso tightly.

Sorry Lavender, he thought sadly.

With a sudden whoop, he swooped behind the man and fastened the lasso around the man's neck. The man gagged, his hand s flew to his neck, trying to uncurl the thick rope around it, but he slumped onto the ground dead after a few minutes. Please with his work, Erik placed his beloved Punjab back into his pocket.

He turned to face the mansion. There are so many windows around that he did not know which one was it. Lavender, where are you? Erik thought desperately.

Lavender laid breathing fast on the cold floor. Erik, where are you? She thought. Suddenly, her eyes sprang open wide. She had an impression that she had heard the sound of horse hooves.

"Erik?" Lavender muttered weakly.

No reply.

"Erik?" Lavender tried again. Still, nothing.

Now fully sure that there was no more hope for her, Lavender laid back down, just as she felt someone's arm, strong and warm carried her up.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 57 (Escape)

Erik looked down at Lavender in his arms. She was so skinny that she looked like a skeleton; she was so pale that she was no difference from the dead.

Lavender felt someone lifted her up. Confused with fever, she began kicking and fighting for her life.

"Who are you, put me down!" Lavender screamed, but it sounded more like a whisper.

"Don't worry, Lavender, you are safe now, it would be all over," Erik muttered reassuringly. Tears found their way into his eyes.

What will be over? The torture? My life? Lavender thought in horror. She struggled, but whoever he is held her tighter still.

"Don't struggle, you will hurt yourself," came the reply.

Well I will be damned if I don't, Lavender thought scathingly.

Erik knew, by looking into the pale green eyes of Lavender's that he knew that she was not herself. The fever had stolen her mind.

"Go away, leave me alone," Lavender managed to gag out.

"Lavender, don't worry, it's me, Erik," Erik hissed.

Lavender's eyes seemed to sparkle all of a sudden with recognition.

"Erik?" she breathed, before falling full into his arms, unconscious.

"W….Who are y...you?" asked a scared voice in the shadows. Erik paused.

Just then, a skinny girl proceeded into the soft, moonlight. Erik stared.

"What are you doing here?" Erik demanded, all of gentleness lost in his voice.

"The Vicompte caught me, what are you doing?" the girl asked.

"What do you think I am doing? Having a tea session with my sister?" Erik snapped.

To his surprise, the girl gasped.

"You a…are t…the O…Opera…." She managed to stammer out. Erik shot her a warning look.

"Yes, I am, come along," Erik said impatiently.

"What?" the girl's eyes seemed to be growing as large as marbles.

"You mean you want to be stuck here forever?" Erik questioned, raising an eyebrow. Kelly scrambled up.

"No, of course not!" she said, rather hastily. 

"Where did you come in from?" the girl asked.

Erik pointed to a small window several feet above them.

"There, it's the only way in, can you climb?" Erik asked.

The girl hesitated. She could, have course, but was very weak. The Opera Ghost seemed to read her mind.

"I will climb up first, then I will help you up," Erik said, almost flatly.

The girl nodded. Erik hoisted himself through the small window easily, all the while keeping a firm but gentle grip on Lavender's unconscious form.

"Now you," Erik muttered rather quickly.

"My name is Kelly," the girl shot back, before letting herself be pulled up through the window by Erik.

"And mine is Erik," Erik said, after a few minutes of trying to get Kelly up.

The girl, Kelly nodded, before the both of them started walking out of the graveyard.

"She's very sick," Kelly whispered after awhile. Erik nodded.

"Yeah, I know. The fo-Vicompte could have killed her, he would be damned if he did," Erik replied bitterly. They continued their walk in silence, all the while shooting looked behind their backs to make sure that they were not being followed.

They went to where Erik had hitched his precious horse at.

"Strange, where's my horse? I remembered very clearly that I hitched it here?" Erik asked, barfed, yet, a new, horrified thought came into his mind.


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 58 (minute saver)

Erik and Kelly stood there, puzzling whether the horse had ran away.

"It can't be. Cesar would never run away from me," Erik replied fiercely, it was until Kelly's scared voice did he looked up from thought.

"No, Erik, the rope binding was cut off," she said shakily. Erik grabbed the rope from her.

The usual smooth leather rope was cleanly cut into two by a razor sharp object, no doubt by someone, and it does not take a genius to tell who.

"Good evening, Monsieur, come to look for your little sister?" a cold voice ran out. It was only then was Erik and Kelly aware of the bright lamp light behind them.

"You!" Erik snarled. The thought of Lavender was enough for him to tear the loathing creature into bits. The fop laughed.

"Me," Raoul said grimly.

Raoul's eyes traveled to Lavender still in Erik's arms. He smirked.

"Hmmm, touching, very touching indeed. Unfortunately, the world is never, I repeat, never a touching nor a loving world to me," the fop sneered.

Lavender at that moment awoken suddenly. She looked up. It was dark, but she could make out the form of the fop. It occurred to her. She slides from Erik's arms to the ground, her head pounding.

"Lavender, are you alright?" Erik asked, concerned. Lavender nodded, her tired eyes staring straight at Raoul.

Raoul raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

Lavender was still staring at him.

"Git," she managed after a few moments. Raoul threw back his head and burst into a menacing and cruel laughter, which rang throughout the whole graveyard. He drew a pistol from his pocket.

"Fun's over, masked ghost," he yelled, still locked in his hysteric laughter. He pulled the trigger. It did register him for a while that the phantom was standing just behind him. The truth was unmasked when a rope flew out of nowhere around his neck, forcing him to drop the pistol.

Lavender and Kelly watched in horror as the two men struggled against each other, neither party seemed to be eager to give in. Erik forced Raoul onto the ground, panting.

"Let me go, please, and I will tell you the way out of here," Raoul said, gagging. Erik sneered.

"Only fools do that," he spat.

"Please, what do you want, I can give you whatever you want," Raoul begged, his hands tugging at the rope around his neck, trying to loosen it.

Erik hesitated.

"Tell me about Christine," he said after a while.

Raoul moaned.

"Did you still believe that I killed her? I did not, I swear I did not! How could a husband kill a wife like that? She was so pretty, and enchanting, please, Erik," Raoul groaned.

Erik froze.

"How did you know my real name?" he asked quietly, not letting go of the rope.

"Christine told me, she told me all about you, and how much she missed you….." Raoul's voice trailed off, leaving Erik in his own mind.

He remembered, all about Christine, about how she would be drawn by him. Christine's eyes closing. Her gentle breathing in sleep, and how pretty she looked in her night gown, how she would thinking about him all day………….

Erik's mind was snatched away by the memories, and did not realise that the rope in his hands was loosened, loosened enough for Raoul to free himself.

The next few seconds were a shock to Erik, for he was thrown roughly onto the ground, a pistol claded to his head and a hand on his neck. With white spotlights dancing in his eyes, he could make out the form of the Vicompte above him.

"Dreaming does not help you win a battle," Raoul snarled. His fingers on Erik's neck tightened, causing his prisoner to choke.

"I have always wanted to do that, and now I can finish whatever was started," Raoul hissed, his lips twisted in delight. His finger on the piston of the gun tightened.

He was suddenly thrown off the phantom by some small by yet determined force from his left. In his midst of battling Erik, he had completely forgotten about the presence of the two girls. Raoul blinked in the confusion and surprise at the girl who was panting nearby. In her sudden rush of energy had caused Lavender to be exhausted.

He stood up, and approached menacingly towards the limped girl, who was still panting on the ground. He pulled her to her feet by her neck and slammed her into a tree.

"What, phantom's child, trying to save your brother?" Raoul yelled. The girl looked unfazed.

"Go on, what are you going to do?" Lavender asked, her voice very weak but cold.

With a yell of rage, Raoul rammed the handle of the pistol onto Lavender's head. The girl collapsed, almost in slow motion on to the ground, her head bleeding profusely.

Raoul smirked, but his joy was short-lived, as he was soon lifted off his feet but an enormous force which connect behind his head, knocking him flat onto the ground. Next moment, his pistol was wrestled away from him, and he felt the cold, hard noose of the weapon upon his head.

The time held was short too, for the next moment, a loud blast right next to the Vicompte sounded, and he fell dead.

To Erik, committing murders were easy, but not so as to see his sister bleeding from the head seriously. He dropped the pistol after firing and rushed to her. The wound was deep, and Lavender's breathing was ragged. He cradled her body close to his, taking in the sweet, flowery scent of his sister. Her blood trailed down from her head to his hands, but all Erik felt now was rage, and sorrow.

Kelly kneeled down beside Erik, her eyes misted with shock. She stared at Lavender, and then burst into tears.

"Hey, whose' out there?" a rough voice yelled through the quiet graveyard. Erik's head snapped up.

"We got to go, they will find us here," Kelly said, scared. Erik nodded, before picking up Lavender and the two of them rushed behind a tree.

"Is she still alive?" Kelly whispered.

"Yes she is, but only just," Erik whispered back, his voice lined with sorrow. He had to get her back, if he ever wanted her to live, but how?

"I know how they get here; we have to cross a lake, they came by a bridge, but it is at the far side of east, and we can't possibly reach there without being shot," Kelly said, quietly.

Erik pondered about this, and that means that if they want to get away without being seen, they would have to………….

"Can you swim?" Erik asked Kelly doubtfully. He knew some, but not very much, and if the lake was wide, then they were all goners. Kelly looked at him, rather surprise.

"I knew, but very little," Kelly said, rather embarrassedly.

Erik looked at Lavender, who lay unconscious in his arms. He had to get her back, or she will die. He would take a chance for Lavender, definitely. Erik took a deep breath.

"Where is this lake?" he asked. Kelly looked at him frightened, and then pointed west.

Both of them sprinted over through the dark, creepy graveyard, stumbling over several tombstones and finally came to a dark lake with crashing waves.

Erik glanced at Kelly, whose eyes were big and fearful.

"Maybe we should go by another way," Kelly said after a few minutes of silence.

"No, Lavender will die, we should just go for it, I doubt that the lake is very deep," Erik replied fiercely. Without thinking, Erik took a plunge into the water.

The water was icy cold, and the moment Erik jumped into the water, the water was soaked to the skin.

Lavender was suddenly awoken by the icy cold lake water and was gasping for breath.

"W-where am I?" Lavender asked, teeth clattering.

She did not need to ask. She realised, for one instance that she was surrounded by water. Lavender panicked.

Gasping and trying to stay afloat, she struggled free from Erik's grasp and tried to paddle towards the shore, but she was paddling away from the shore, the safety.

"Lavender!" Erik yelled. She was weak, and she would not be able to swim a yard. However, in the crashing waves she could not hear.

Erik glanced at the shore; Kelly had already made it to the opposite shore. Erik swam after his sister.

To his surprise, he could no longer see her small frame fighting through the waves. Stroking to the direction where she did, Erik scanned the rocks and shore for her, but still, nothing.

A sudden pain tore through Erik's right leg through the dark water, Erik could not make out anything, and he heard a cry from the shore.

"Erik! Lavender's here!" Kelly yelled to the water. Relieved, but pain tearing through his body, Erik swam, and then limped onto the shore. Lavender seemed relieved after the dip in the cold water. Though her face was slightly blue with cold, but she looked slightly stronger as she ran down to Erik.

"I'm sorry; I should have told……Oh My God what happened?" Lavender asked, and then whimpered she looked at Erik's wound. There was a large gash on his right leg and blood was spurting freely.

"It's okay, don't bother, it will stop bleeding soon," Erik said through gritted teeth. He himself doubted it; by the speed his leg was bleeding, it would drain him of blood within hours, and the terrible pain was enough to knock him out.

"That bloke Raoul was shooting into the water, I saw him, I tried to tell you, but you can't hear," Kelly said timidly as she walked over to the siblings. Erik turned around.

"He realised we have gone this way?" Erik asked, one hand on his leg, trying to stench the flow.

"Yes, we have to get a moving on now, it may be dark, but the Vicompte's hounds…"

"Vicompte got hounds?" Lavender asked, her face pearly white now.

"Yes, he has. They were very fast. He would most likely to let them out tomorrow morning. We have to get going now," Kelly said quietly.

Lavender gulped. Erik was in no condition to go now. Quickly, she tore a piece of cloth from the cloak which Kelly gave her and wrapped it firmly around Erik's leg to stop the blood. Groaning in pain, Erik stood up.

"We should try to proceed now," Kelly suggested softly. Lavender nodded, and supporting Erik, they stumbled into the darkness.

As they walked, Lavender could not help but feel a sense of foreboding. Suddenly, Kelly stopped.

"I have a feeling that we are being watched," Kelly said, quietly. Lavender drew a deep breath.

"Maybe it's just a feeling? Let's just keep going, Erik seriously needed medication help," Lavender said urgently. Erik was breathing really hard, his eyes closed in pain.

Lavender struggled forward, and suddenly gunfire sounded and the soil around Kelly's feet sprayed upwards. The party looked around sharply, only to find the dark outlines of a group of people, each holding a pistol and a lantern.

"That's him, he killed boss," one of them spoke. Lavender glared at them.

"Look, it is not Erik's fault at all, it's………"

"We do not need to know whose fault, little girl. Hand over the phantom," the same man spoke. With a sudden realization, Lavender knew the true meaning of kidnapping her. It was to use her as a bait to catch Erik.

"Really? I don't think so. Go find something else to hand over. Now shoo!" Kelly snarled, or more like muttered. The group of men cringed.

"How did you manage to escape from the mansion, we do not know, but you are definitely not going to take one more step further," the leader of the pack spoke, his pistol pointing directly at Kelly.

"Oh! You know that's called a mansion? Well you are smart aren't you? Smartest of them all, I suppose?" Lavender laughed, yet fear crawled up from her throat. She felt someone nudged her in the ribs.

Erik had gotten to his feet; he placed his arms protectively around Lavender. The pain in his leg was overwhelming, but seeing his sister speaking so openly to the men he had over come his pains, which was a good thing as the leader growled.

"Oh! Good imitation of a pig! Seriously, don't crawl on all fours in a pig style, the farmer would take you for an overweight fowl and takes his riffle and turn you into smoked bacon and ham, but they wouldn't be tasty. Tastes like mud, I think," Lavender snarled.

"Lavender, stop saying!" Erik muttered urgently. The leader was turning red; his grip on the pistol tightened. Lavender ignored her brother.

"Hey, bring it on, Mr. Bacon, what, scared? Because there's no bullets in your pistol anymore?" Lavender scoffed; her green eyes no longer fearful. Mr. Bacon yelled in rage, and pressed down the piston.

To everyone's surprise, instead of a shot being emitted, soap bubbles erupted from the pistol. Lavender giggled.

"Whoa, like playing with bubbles, Mr. Bacon?" she asked.

"I have many other people whose pistols are filled with bullets, and you three are goners," Mr. Bacon spat, eyes filled with menace.

Erik looked pleadingly at his sister, whose pale and fevered face was fearless.

"Hmmm, try me! Go ahead! Are you afraid of a girl?" Lavender laughed, a mad, sickening laugh, which caused Erik to think that she had gone mad.

One of the men stepped forward. Pointing his pistol at Lavender, he pressed the trigger, but again, nothing. One by one, the hounds stepped forward and tried, but only an empty click of an empty barrel announced failure.

"How did you know that our pistols are empty?" one of the men asked.

Lavender grimaced.

"Pigs do not know how to use pistols," she sighed, as she ran forward, snatched a pistol from one of them. She fiddled around with it for awhile, and pointed it at the leader (Mr. Bacon).

"This is how you use the pistol," Lavender said in a dead whisper. A bang echoed in the woods. One of the men fell over. Dead.

There was silence.

Then slowly, the bunch of men turned on their heels quickly and started to run away. Somehow half way they remembered that Mr. Bacon was still laying on the ground for one of them reappeared, and timidly, avoiding Lavender's glare pulled their leader away.

"How did you do that?" Erik asked, awed. Lavender grinned.

"Their barrels were empty, before I fired I slipped in an unused bullet, and it sort of went off," Lavender said, rather bravely.

"How do you know that their barrels were empty?" Kelly asked, quietly.

"Instinct," Lavender said shortly. Erik grimaced; it was really a chance to take.

They continued their way across the woods, occasionally stumbling across random stones and twigs.

"You know, I must thank you to come," Lavender said, after a few moments.

"It's alright, it took me guilt to knock out Meg to come, she just won't believe me that you are alive," Erik said bitterly.

"Very nice, though, of you," Lavender sighed. There seemed no end to the woods that they were walking in, and Lavender could only marvel at Kelly for keeping quiet so long.

"Watch it!" a sudden scream behind them caused both Lavender and Erik to spin around, at the same time, Erik felt something colliding with an enormous force to his side.

With stars popping out of his eyes, Erik pushed himself up from the ground, and surveyed the surrounding. His eyes dropped on Lavender, who was crouching on the ground, sobbing.

"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly," Lavender seemed to be saying the same name over and over again. Erik adjusted his eyes to the sudden darkness and his heart almost stopped.

Kelly's eyes were opened, a strange, misty glow in both of them, and prodding from her heart was a sharp, metal head of an arrow.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 59 (realizing, but carrying on)

Erik rushed over to Lavender. One look at Kelly would tell him that she was beyond help.

"The arrow is shot from behind," Erik said, and with a sudden awful realization.

Kelly was the one who pushed him just now. She had to do so in order to save him from the fate that she had landed herself in.

Though he had seen many deaths before in his life, Erik had not felt the guilt that was raging through his veins now. Lavender's injured on the head, and Kelly was killed it was all because of him.

Scanning the darkening woods, Erik could not make out a single soul in sight. Who had fired that arrow?

Erik bent down and stroked Kelly's light brown fringe, she looked beautiful even in death.

"W…We have t…to lea…leave her h…here," Lavender sobbed. Erik nodded, his throat choked with sorrow.

They dug a pit in a soft patch of ground, and Erik gently laid Kelly down to rest. He took one last look at his minute saver before the moisten soil landed on Kelly's lifeless body.


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 60 (return)

For the next day, Erik and Lavender walked in silence back to the opera house. Ever since Kelly's death, Lavender had gotten worse. Fever raged in her and she was going paler and paler still. It seemed to be a century before they reached the Opera Populaire.

"My god, what happened?" a sudden cry from the back gate they were approaching sounded. Meg Giry rushed to them.

"No time to explain, I have to get her home," Erik said shortly, gesturing towards Lavender, who seemed to be a walking ghost.

Meg took a peep at Lavender and screamed.

"She's alive!" she whispered. Erik nodded curtly. He could not help but looking at her dress. There was a large rip in it and she looked as though she had being lying on the ground.

"What happened to you too?" Erik asked weakly. Meg gasped, but quickly covered up her surprise.

"We should get her into the lair," Meg said, avoiding Erik's gaze. They hurried down to the lair before anyone saw them.


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 61 (Suspicion)

Erik placed Lavender on her bed and rushed to get warm water and towels. He sat down beside the bed and began to dab the girl's wound. Thank god she was not killed by the blow. At the touch of water, Lavender's eyes sprang open.

"What the…."

"You are safe now, don't worry, just relax and rest," Erik said soothingly.

Lavender nodded, laid back down then sprang up again.

"What about you? You have to bandage the wound before it gets infected," Lavender said. Erik nodded. During their journey, he had completely forgotten about the pain, but now the pain returned, throbbing in his leg.

"I wonder who killed Kelly," Lavender said quietly.

"It can't be Mr. Bacon and gang, if they killed Kelly they would kill us too," Erik said, dabbing Lavender's gash on her head.

"They tried to kill YOU, not Kelly. I am sure that it is not them; they wanted to hand you over to the authority, but not kill you," Lavender said slowly.

"Don't worry about that now, I will go and get you some food, are you hungry?" Erik asked softly. Lavender ignored him.

"I think it is Meg," Lavender said suddenly. Erik spun around.

"What?" he asked shocked.

"Yes, it is Meg. Listen. 1, she knows archery, she told me once that she is brilliant at archery. 2, did you notice that her dress was torn? She had being hiding behind a tree, and her skirt got all dirty because of leaning again the tree," Lavender said quickly.

"I think it is a bit far-fetched, but why would she want to kill me?" Erik asked.

Lavender thought for awhile.

"That night, it was dark. She does not know where I stand. She had being trying to kill me. Since she met me, she had being trying to do so. The black powder, it is of crushed laburnum seeds," Lavender said quickly.

"Laburnum?" Erik asked puzzled, yet horrified.

"Yes, it is a kind of poisonous tasteless seed commonly found in here. Its seeds are poisonous, often mistaken for peas. When ripe, the seeds turn hard, and when crushed, it can be easily mistaken for black pepper. And that green powder which she had given me for cure, it is just a simple mixture of crushed tea leaves and peppermint, it does not have any curing effects in it," Lavender said angrily now.

"And that arrow, it was mine. I can recognize arrows. She must have picked it from the de Chaney estate. The bow can be easily made from tree twines. There were a lot of twines along the way on which Kelly died. It could not shoot arrows far, but it is effective when shot from a short distance," Lavender said.

"But where will she hide? I saw nothing behind me," Erik asked, still puzzled.

"The oak," Lavender whispered everything suddenly clear.

"What?" Erik asked.

"The old oak! She was hiding behind that old oak right behind us. It was dark that night; neither did I saw it, the oak camouflage fairly well in the darkness. I swore I heard the cringe of dried leaves behind us then," Lavender gulped.

There was a stunning silence.

"I still don't think that this is possible," Erik said doubtfully.

"Oh why is it not possible? What else do you need to know?" Lavender asked, irritated.

"The murder weapon, which is the bow, and if Meg is guilty of the deed, she would have burnt it or destroyed it in some way. This leaves us nothing to ponder on," Erik said kindly.

Lavender was not totally convinced.


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 62 (back to normal)

The next few days, Erik took great care of Lavender. Meg often spend all her time outside Lavender's room, avoiding both Erik and Lavender. However, when Lavender got better, life returned to normal.

Every morning, Lavender would get up, go outside to find flowers, and Meg would make breakfast, and after breakfast, Erik would resume his position in front of the organ, working on a new opera.

One morning, both Meg and Erik were awoken when the door to their bedroom opened.

"Lavender, what is it?" Erik asked, concerned.

Lavender grinned, and produced, from beneath her cloak a baby swan.

Both Erik and Meg stared.

The swan was a light grey, with bright yellow beak. It was really furry, squirming in Lavender's clutch. Meg smiled, reached over and stroked the head of the baby swan.

"Where did you get it from?" Erik asked.

"Where I got the flowers from. I saw it lying in the flower bed. Isn't it adorable?" Lavender asked, excitedly. Erik smiled and took the swan from Lavender.

"What do you want to do with it?" Erik asked softly.

"Put it in the lake of course, what did you expect? In your frying pan?" Lavender asked mischievously.

Erik almost dropped the swan.

"Put in my lake?" he asked, as though that was the last thing that he would want to do.

"Yeah, your lake is so bland, it could do with some creatures in it, and maybe some lotus could improve?" Lavender asked, winking at Meg.

"This swan is the most that I would allow in my lake, and definitely no lotus!" Erik said strictly as he handed the baby swan back.

"Alright, alright, Erik, I would not put anything else in your lake alright? But I can't help this swan from reproducing," Lavender said brightly.

Erik winced at the thought of a few hundred swans swimming in his lake. "Alright, only 5 at the most, understood?" he said, but Lavender was gone before he could catch another glance of her.


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 63 (Goodbye, Erik)

By the time Erik and Meg walked out of their room, they could see the swan already paddling around in the lake, with Lavender sprinkling crushed bread crumbs for it. "I made bacons and eggs for you already! Its there on the table," Lavender said happily, gesturing towards the table.

"Be careful of the big fishes in the lake; take note of your swan!" Erik said.

"Alright, thanks for the reminder," Lavender said, smiling.

After breakfast, Erik decided to take Lavender out.

"Don't you think that this is not a good idea? She is still sick!" Meg said as both Erik and Lavender put on their cloak.

"Don't care, it does not matter with me much, I just want to get outside and get some fresh air," Lavender said, smiling.

"Alright, you are going to come back with another cold, and you are going to blame me, huh?" Meg asked, pretending to be pissed.

"Alright, it is not going to be your fault, alright?" Lavender asked, not at all meeting Meg's eyes.

After a few minutes, Erik and Lavender were standing on top of the opera house roof top.

"It's wonderful up here?" Erik asked casually.

"Yeah, remember the first time we met?" Lavender asked.

"Yes, of course, how you were frightened, and stuff," Erik said, smiling.

Somehow, Lavender felt sadness.

"What's wrong?" Erik asked.

"I-I just f-felt that you d-deserves better than this," Lavender said, suddenly breaking down.

Erik was stunned, just now was a lively, jumping girl and next moment, she was sobbing her heart out. He walked over to her, placing a warm arm around his sister.

"I just think that you deserves better, seriously. About Christine, how could she? That bitch? How could she be so cruel to you? She's being so unfair! I hate her! I am glad that she is dead! Damn her! You were almost driven to craziness when she was gone! And that horrible idiot, that fop! I am going to kill him! I am going to! He derived you of happiness! How can the world be so unfair?!" Lavender screamed into the darkening air, tears streaming down her face.

Erik stared at her, looking shocked. He sister was actually feeling sorry for her and crying for him.

"Then my voice, cried out in the gloom, saying that I love you. I hear you tears, your torment and your tears…." Lavender sang slowly.

"I saw your loneliness, shed in your emptiness….. and I will listen, listen to songs… songs that my angel wrote," Lavender finished, closing her eyes.

Erik could not believe his ears.

"I am an angel," he said aloud, stroking Lavender's hair.

Ever since Christine had gone, no one ever had referred to him as an angel, it's either the opera ghost or the Phantom of the Opera, or the devil's child, or the carcass that burns in hell.

"I am an angel," Erik said with a sigh.

"Angel of music,

Guard and guidance,

Grant me to your glory.  
Angle of music,

I denied you,

Secret and strange angel," Lavender sang softly, burying her face in Erik's shoulders.

Erik smiled at the young girl in his arms. He began to pull away.

"Don't leave me, angel, please don't!" Lavender pleaded.

"Come on, let's get back. You must be freezing," Erik said, gently guiding Lavender along as well. To his surprise, Lavender stood there, staring at the dark sky, her eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"Lavender, let's get back!" Erik said a little urgently now, tugging at his sister's sweater.

The next thing was a blur to Erik. Suddenly, Lavender swung one leg over the edge of the roof, dangling dangerously above the deadly ground.

"Lavender, what one earth are you…." Erik asked, but before he could finish the sentence, Lavender suddenly let go of the railings that support her. With a sudden grab, Erik caught hold of his sister before she fell to the ground far below.

"Lavender! What are you doing?" Erik gasped. He tried to pull her back, but Lavender fought tooth and nails.

"I. Want. To. Join. My. Angel. In. Heaven!" Lavender screamed.

Erik knew that his sister was not herself anymore.

"Lavender! Listen to me! You are not yourself!" Erik said, shaking her. Lavender's head lolled to one side, her eyes misted. All of a sudden, she collapsed in Erik's arms, her bright green eyes still creepily opened, and her skin pale and slightly blue.

Panicking, Erik placed his finger under her nose. To his utmost horror, she was not breathing.

"Lavender!" Erik yelled, "Lavender wake up! Please wake up! Wake up!"

Desperately, Erik laid her down on the ground. He felt her throat, it was stiff, in fact, all her muscles were stiff. He massaged her throat, trying to clear her airway. She let out a sudden gasp. Suddenly, Erik noticed that small, red spots were rising on her skin, an obvious case of rashes.

"Lavender," Erik whispered in shock. Suddenly, Lavender yelled out in dread agony, her whole body shock.

"Pain! OW! Help me!" Lavender screamed. She began clawing at her skin, tearing them up, ripping them, till she was all bloody and injured.

"Lavender! LAVENDER! Listen to me! If you don't stop injuring yourself, I am going to tie you up! Stop moving! Lavender! STOP!" Erik yelled. He tried hard to hold her hands off from trying to strip herself of her skin.

"Kill me! The pain, the pain! I can't take it anymore! Kill me! Oh my god! Just kill me! I don't want to live anymore! The agony! The pain!!" Lavender screamed a pitiful scream.

Erik dragged her right down to his lair. Stripping down a few silk dresses, he bounded her firmly to a chair. Lavender screamed all along the way, in agony.

"I am sorry Lavender, I had to do this to stop you from killing yourself" Erik said sadly. Lavender struggled against her bounds, withering in pain.

"Lavender, listen, what did you take? What did you take!?" Erik asked urgently.

"KILL ME NOW! PLEASE! THE PAIN! THE PAIN!" Lavender shrieked, struggling against the silk materials that kept her prisoner.

Deep inside, Erik knew that Lavender was yet again poisoned. With a sudden wretched of anger, Erik tore open the door to reveal a half smiling Meg.

"WHY DID YOU DO IT!?!" Erik roared, flinging her inside.

"What did I do what?" Meg asked, calmly.

"WHY DID YOU POISONED HER?!?" Erik screamed.

"Please! Calm down! What's the big drama?" Meg asked, trying to stiff a grin.

"WHY DID YOU…." Erik could speak no more. He walked over to Lavender, and placed a finger on her neck.

"Lavender, just to let you know, that if you are dead, then I will die with you, don't forget our vow," Erik said, loud enough for Meg to hear.

"Vow? You guys made a vow behind my back?" Meg asked, all excitement forgotten.

"Yeah, it's better than you slowly poisoning Lavender, isn't it?" Erik asked through gritted teeth, his hands were balled into fists.

Meg looked alarmed.

"How, could you. What on earth is happening to you?" Erik asked, anger burning his whole body.

"Calm down! It's just a simple poison! It would not be enough to kill her!" Meg said, grinning.

"DID YOU NOT REALISE HOW MUCH DAMAGE HAS YOU CAUSED ALREADY?" Erik yelled.

"Yes, of course. If she is strong, she would fight the poison. If she is not, then you would not see the last look of her again. The poison is called agonisium, taken from a spider. It would cause great agony and when the victim is in so much pain that she could not take it, it would lead to self-destruction," Meg said quietly.

Erik could not believe his ears.

"Why did you do this?" he asked, hands shaking.

"Sorry, Erik. I am not good enough to be your wife anymore, goodbye," Meg said, before grabbing her cloak and sweeping out of the room.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 64 (Pain)

Erik's eyes fell back to Lavender, whose face was so ghostly pale that if her eyes were closed, she would have being thought as a dead. She was still struggling against the bounds, screaming and withering in pain. Erik felt as though hundreds of knives were thrust into him, by just watching his sister suffered. She was right about Meg, Erik thought, heartbroken. He rushed to Lavender.

Is there anything that I can do to distract her from the pain? Erik thought desperately. Suddenly, he had an idea.

He untied Lavender and before she could move an inch, Erik wrapped his arms around her in a hug, and recited softly in her ears.

"_A place where roses bloom,_

_The sun will rise once more._

_Where winter never show,_

_Where forest trees stood tall._

_Where lavenders grow in patches,_

_Where roses grow in groups._

_Where loves never die there,_

_Where hatred never looms._

_In spring's Garden,_

_Where happiness is always. _

It worked. Lavender seemed to calm down a bit. Erik laid her down on her bed.

That night, he slept right next to Lavender, as the poison began to slowly wear off. Sometimes in sleep, she would struggle in pain and Erik would have no choice but to bound her to the bed.

The next morning, Erik awoke in alarm to find Lavender not breathing again. He massaged her neck, and slowly, she began to take in air bit by bit.

It continued for the next day and on the third day, Lavender's eyes became clear again.

"Erik?" she asked weakly.

Though deep in his sleep, Erik's eyes sprang up on hearing his name.

"Lavender! Oh my god! How are you feeling right now? Do you need anything?" Erik asked kindly and urgently.

Lavender looked a little frightened by Erik's sudden outburst.

"I am just a little thirsty, that's all, nothing much," she said, a little surprised.

Erik was gone before she knew and came back with a glass of water.

"Here, drink this, you will be better," he said.

Erik watched as Lavender drank the water slowly.

"What?" Lavender asked, looking at Erik.

"Um, Erik?" Lavender asked all of a sudden.

"Yes, my dear?" Erik replied.

"Do you mind if you bring me to where Kelly was killed later?" Lavender whispered.

"Why?"

"I need to clarify something." 

"Clarify what?"

"The murder weapon."

"Kelly is dead. You said yourself that Meg could have burnt or destroyed the weapon, so nothing to worry about now," Erik said quietly.

"No, there is something, something had being puzzling me since the death of Kelly," Lavender said slowly.

"What has being troubling you?" Erik asked, concerned.

"What was Meg doing at that point of time? I do not think that she is waiting for me anymore. There were many paths out of the mansion, and why would she think that we would be crossing that way? And I had dropped more than one arrow in the de Chaney place, why would she only fire one?" Lavender said quickly, and excitedly.

"So what do you mean?" Erik asked, confused.

"There must be some kinds of a hideout there, something that she did not want us to know," Lavender said, everything suddenly seemed clear to her. Grabbing her cloak, she sprinted towards the exit.

Erik ran after her and within an hour, they were speeding towards where Kelly was killed.


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter 64 (painful truth)

IT was noon when they arrived at the site. Lavender got down her horse and began slowly patrolling the area.

"The arrow was fired from behind this oak. Hey, Erik! Look!" Lavender suddenly said.

Erik stared. There was a long path from behind the oak. It was a not so obvious trail cleared of twigs and fallen leaves. It seemed though it had being stepped on frequently.

"So whoever who fired the arrow had came from over there!" Lavender said, pointing towards the woods, where the path was leading to.

"Don't you think that we should…." Erik began, but cursed under his breath as Lavender began skipping down the trail.

Erik followed, trying to catch up with the agile girl in front of him. It was soon before he realised that they were running deeper and deeper into the woods, yet the trail was still visible in the darkening forest. It was no doubt that the trail was used many times.

"Hey! Lavender, can you please wait up? Lavender!" Erik yelled.

"Erik! Come here! I saw something!" Lavender screamed back.

Erik, all exhaustion forgotten sprinted forward, to where Lavender was standing, stunned.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

Lavender was pale as a ghost, and pointed the right of her. Erik followed her hand and saw something which he would never want to see again.

Hanging on a tree was the body of a man. There was a noose around his neck. There was a small trickle of blood running down from his arm.

"W…Who did this?" Lavender whimpered, scared.

"Maybe we should go," Erik said, trying to comfort her while being shocked like her.

"D…Did Meg did this?" Lavender asked, voicing Erik's inner fears.

"So what if I did?" a cold voice sounded behind them. Lavender and Erik spun around to find Meg, her arms akimbo and staring at them with what seemed like amusement.

"MEG!" Lavender screamed.

"You!" Erik snarled.

"Me!" Meg replied coolly.

"What brought you here, Erik? What, trying to persuade me to go back to your 'home'?" Meg scoffed.

"Like real, did you kill this man?" Lavender snarled.

Meg snorted.

"Do I look as though I did this? Did you honestly think that I had the strength to lift him up to hang him on the tree?" Meg asked, turning slightly red.

Lavender's gaze returned to the man. She was right, she thought. There was not a single stool or a log for the man to stand on before he was hung.

"What are you doing here?" Erik asked Meg.

"What? I am not allowed to come here? And what are YOU doing here?" Meg asked, her hands balled into fists.

"Nothing, just walking around," Lavender snapped.

"Did you kill Kelly?" Erik asked again.

"Some people needed to be killed for the sake of power," Meg sad quietly.

"YOU KILLED KELLY?!" Lavender screamed.

"Tsk, Tsk, what a pathetic creature you are, Lavender. You have not notice? I tried to kill you! You! Lavender, the annoying creature. To have you gotten out of the way so that I can get the entire inheritance of the Opera Populaire," Meg said, staring at Lavender straight in the eyes.

Lavender gasped.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Did you not know that your parents left you entire Opera Populaire before they died? There was a will, hidden deep inside the opera house, waiting for you to be revealed to the whole world that you were the rightful owner for the opera house! Just a simple signature and you would be able to have the entire opera house to yourself! The will would only be ineffective when the owner, which is you, is dead," Meg snapped.

"So that's why you fired that arrow!" Lavender whispered.

"Let me tell you this, if you dared laid one more finger on my sister," Erik said threatening, taking a huge step towards Meg, until they were one feet apart.

"You will what? Throttle me?" Meg laughed.

"You wait, Meg. It was a mistake I had made to marry you. You were not an innocent girl I thought you were, you were no better than Christine, a traitor!" Erik snarled.

There was a loud snap as Meg slapped Erik across the left side of his face.

"Erik!" Lavender yelled as she sprang forward to see how her brother was.

Erik's nose was bleeding; his eyes were shut in stinging pain. Lavender, in a state of rage unsheathed her sword.

"You," she said, pointing the weapon threatening at Meg, "are about to know what is it like to be violent".

Meg looked unnerved.

"Lavender, we should go," Erik gently, trying to stiff the flow of blood and trying to pull Lavender away at the same time. Lavender ignored him.

"You have gone too far, Meg," she said quietly, her bright green eyes suddenly turning red in anger. With a sudden movement, Lavender dashed forward with the sword pointing at Meg. Meg ducked, and before long, Lavender was chasing Meg around the woods, yelling curses at her and waving the sword in the air. Erik watched on, in horror, and chased after Lavender before she could do some real damage.

"Lavender! Stop! Stop! Hey! Come back here! Just leave her alone!" Erik yelled, trying to grab the maddening girl in front of him.

Fortunately to Meg, Erik managed to catch Lavender before she could drive the deadly weapon into Meg.

"LET. ME. GO!" Lavender screamed all sanity in her eyes gone.

"Lavender, calm down!" Erik said, still keeping a strong grip around her wrist.

"LET. ME. KILL. THE. FREAK!" Lavender yelled, her eyes wild.

Meg was screaming on the ground, looking scared. Erik cringed. To spare Meg from death has only one way. He raised his fist and with a dull 'thud' he knocked Lavender unconscious.

"I can set her on you whenever I want. The dagger that stabs the heart and the would of hatred would never heals," Erik spat, at Meg, before carrying Lavender gently away.


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter 65 (Awaking)

Erik laid Lavender on her bed and gently pried her hand wrapped on the sword open to remove the sword. It wasn't long before Lavender's eyes fluttered open.

"What on earth is going on?" she asked, sitting up straight in bed.

"You tried to kill Meg, I had to stop you," Erik said simply, perching himself at the foot of her bed. Lavender gasped.

"MEG! That filthy little maggot! Where is she? Let me kill her!" Lavender screamed, and started looking frantically, only to discover that her sword was missing.

"Hey! Where's my sword?" she asked.

Erik pointed to a chair where the sword was resting upon.

"And forget about killing her, she is out of my mind. Look at this," Erik said, showing Lavender his hand.

It took Lavender quite a while to realize that on Erik's little finger he wore a single ring, which Lavender recognized as Meg's wedding ring.

"Well?" Erik asked after awhile.

"Er… I don't really know what it means, you know?" Lavender said slowly.

"It means that I am not getting married anymore," Erik said, a smile playing on his lips.

He had expected Lavender to look pleased, but to his surprise, Lavender's face dropped.

"What is the matter, dear?" Erik asked, reaching forward and took her hands in his own.

"It's just that, I did not expect you to become a permanent bachelor," Lavender said, her disappointment showing.

"I have decided. I am not going to get married, be heart-broken when the woman left me, and have a heart for another. I had suffered enough pain in the past. Anyway, I am happy with the way I am now, so what is the matter?" Erik said, kindly.

Lavender shook her head, before looking in Erik's eyes again.

"Never mind, I feel like paying Carlotta a visit, you know. Want to come?" Erik asked.

At the mention of this, Lavender sprang from her bed.

"Oh my god. Yes Yes Yes! I had being waiting for this day! Wait, where's my trick?" Lavender muttered, as she fumbled around her room for her trick.

"Ah ha!" she cried after a few minutes of searching.

"What have you got?" Erik asked curiously. He gasped when Lavender held up a bunny rabbit.

"Where did you get THAT thing from?" Erik gapped.

"Found it on the manager's table, why? Isn't he cute?" Lavender asked, holding the bunny to her cheek. She exited her room and placed the bunny down on Erik's study table.

"Hey! Stop it!" Erik snapped at the bunny, as it started chewing up his parchments.

With a sweeping motion Erik snatched the parchment from the rabbit's mouth. He glared at the fur ball. Instead, it just stared back and resumed its chewing on another piece of parchment.

"Oh, did I mention that it likes chewing?" Lavender asked naughtily.

For once since meeting the bunny, Erik grinned. Yes, it would be a very good trick to play on Carlotta indeed.


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter 66 (Get-a off-a, you teeny fuurrrrballlll!)

It did not take much effort for Lavender to find her way to Carlotta's room. Erik slid the one way mirror open for Lavender to step past. She had gotten ready a note, and the bunny to give to Carlotta. The note read:

_Dear La Carlotta,_

_Pleasures, hope you don't mind this little present, it is a little gift of support for your new role as the diva in the new opera. I will indeed appreciate your singing, a.k.a screeching._

_I remain, forever your unfaithful servant, _

_L.F._

_P.S. Feed him with plenty of food, or give him all your hair, I won't mind. _

She had tied the note with a ribbon to the neck of the bunny and set him comfortably on the dressing room table, right next to where Carlotta's lipsticks and makeup materials were, not to mention, her new opera's costume.

The job done, Lavender crept back to behind the mirror and watched with content as the bunny, finding nothing better to do begin chewing on Carlotta's new costume.

A while later, she could hear footsteps thundering towards the room and the door burst open.

La Carlotta made her way towards the dressing table, having just come back from a day's rehearsal, waiting, as usual, for her servants. She spotted the bunny.

"Whaaaaat aaarrrrrrrrrrre youuuuu?" she snapped, making the bunny jump and turned around in fright. Lavender giggled, Erik nudged her in the ribs to stop her.

"HEY! YOU CHEWWWWWW A HHOOLLLLLLLLE IN MAH COSTUUUME!?!" La Carlotta screamed after a good one minute.

Lavender and Erik had to use their capes to stifle there laughter, as they watched Carlotta rampaging around the room, shouting curses at the bunny, yet too scared to pick it up and throw it away.

"What's the matter, Carlotta?" a new, foreign man arrived at the doorstep. Lavender heard Erik did a sharp intake of breath.

The newcomer was a handsome, wise looking young man. He could not be more than 30, with dark, blonde hair combed neatly back and wearing an expensive set of evening suite. Somehow, the sight of the young man brought an unpleasant memory to Lavender's mind.

"Erik, is he related to Raoul?" Lavender whispered into her brother's ear. Erik had being doubting this, but the new man did brought the old memories back to him.

"I don't know, but they looked the same, don't they?" Erik whispered back.

They watched as the young man carefully lifted the bunny off from Carlotta's new dress and cradled it in his arms.

"It looked a kind of cute. Do you want it, Carlotta?" the young man asked, stroking the bunny's furry ears. Lavender suddenly feel sick, to watch a man cradling a bunny like a five years old girl.

"NOOOOOO! TEAKE IT BAAUCK! YOU EEDIOOT! TAAAKE EET AWAY FROM MAH! FIRST THE GLUEE IN MAH 'AIR PIN, THAAN DER TORD IN MAH CORSET! AND THEN NOW THIS! I HAVE ENOUF OF THEEEZE NONSENSE!" she shrieked.

With that, La Carlotta left, leaving the young man with rabbit.

"Hmmm, I wonder who left this," he muttered to himself as he too left the room.

Lavender felt the forcibly controlled laughter conquering her as she laughed all the way down to the lair. Erik laughed along with her.

When they finally managed to catch their breath, they began to ponder over who the mysterious young man was.

"It could be his brother," Erik suggested.

"He has a brother?" Lavender asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah, kind of. His name is Philippe, Philippe the Count de Chaney. I would not be surprised if it was him," Erik said thoughtfully, pouring him and Lavender a cup of tea each.

Lavender nodded. Erik observed her as she drank her tea in silence.

"Lavender?" Erik said, after a few uncomfortable minutes.

Lavender nodded to show that she was listening.

"I think it is time I teach you some real big tricks to play on the opera house," Erik said.

"Big tricks? Like what?" Lavender asked her mind uneasy.

"Like, you know, dropping a back-set during the rehearsal, and stuff, you know?" Erik said softly.

Lavender pondered this carefully.

"But it would cause real damage, won't it?" she asked finally. Erik nodded, almost guiltily.

"Sounds terrible, I know, but I have never hurt anyone before in my life," Erik said, which was, as he reminded himself, not completely true.

Lavender placed her mug on the table and smiled.

"Yes, I would like to try," she said after awhile.


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter 67 (Phantom's little sister)

They set off once more, this time heading towards the stage area, where practices were still going on.

"Lavender," Erik began, but he was surprised to find Lavender not at all following him. Panicking, he began to go back to where he came from when he met a grinning Lavender, coming his way.

"Where did you go?" Erik asked, concerned.

"Oh, I just went off to beat a couple of pleasures," Lavender said calmly.

"Like…" Erik prompted.

"Like setting the manager's desk on fire!" Lavender announced proudly.

Normally, Erik would have being worried, but this time, he laughed.

"What!?! You told me to play bigger jokes on them, so I did! Now you are laughing at me?" Lavender said indignantly.

"No! I didn't mean it. And you do not understand by what I meant by 'bigger joke', it involved more than just setting people's furniture on fire," Erik chortled.

"Fine, Mr. Bossy, show me your 'bigger jokes' then," Lavender said, now sitting cross-legged on the rafters.

Erik walked over to the place where all the sceneries were hooked up at.

Watch, he mouthed at Lavender.

With a few clever twists, he managed to loosen one of them and let it go. He watched in delight as the scenery collapsed onto the stage, and screams echoes around the opera threatre. To his surprise, Lavender did not look pleased.

"You call that a bigger joke?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

"You know, you are in danger of falling, and if they were to look up at the ceiling, they would know that it is you again," Lavender said lazily as Erik carefully made his way back to where she was sitting.

"Then how do you do that without going to loosen it by hand?" Erik sneered.

"Like this!" Lavender said, hurling a knife at one other knot that held scenery up. To Erik's utmost surprise, Lavender managed to hit the jackpot. The rope snapped and the scenery descended down to the stage. The screaming began again.

"Wow, you are good at aiming," Erik remarked, looking at Lavender. Lavender yawned.

"I think I have enough for today, those ballet girls need a rest," she said lazily.

Erik nodded, and together, they walked down to the lair, on the way, they heard the managers yelling for water to put out the fire.


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter 68 (Discovery)

Philippe de Chaney had never believed in the story of the phantom, it was only until his brother's death did he finally succumbed to the truth. He was given the position of a patron in the Opera Populaire, to further investigate the 'opera ghost' incidents. Ever since the two sceneries dropped onto the stage, he had begun suspecting that the phantom had an accomplice.

"Nonsense, he does not, that pitiful creature does not even have half a face, and how was he to have an accomplice!" Monsieur Firmin had remarked. Still, it left Philippe in doubt. When the stage was finally cleared, he began climbing the rafters for a search.

He had found the knife, of course, left behind by Lavender. He pulled the knife off from the wood and examined it. There was a skull's head at the handle; it was blood red, a confirmed clue.

When he showed it to the managers, neither one of them was interested.

"So? That does not mean that the opera ghost have a partner in crime!" Monsieur Andre laughed.

"My dear sirs, your desk had caught fire about the same time when the sceneries were dropped. Far as I know, one cannot be in two places at one time. It is impossible the phantom did all these himself. And the sceneries, why two, though? I have heard that the phantom usually drop one when there was disorders, but why two this time? It is my guess, that the phantom dropped one himself, and then his partner dropped another," Philippe said patiently to the managers.

Both of them shrugged.

"The phantom sometimes works wonders which we do not really understand," Monsieur Andre said.

Still, Philippe was not convinced.

"I will search for the answer and I will take revenge," he thought.


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter 69 (Left in the dark)

The next day, neither Lavender nor Erik felt like going out, and both felt like staying at home. This gave them time to ponder over the will of Lavender's father.

"What does Meg means by that I own the opera house?" Lavender asked, rocking her chair to and fro.

"I don't think that this is possible. After all, I have not really heard of a man named Froney ever set foot in here before, and that I have never seen the actual will of our father. Maybe Meg just wanted you to do something stupid," Erik said firmly, but kindly.

"I don't think so. Look at the determined way she had tried to kill me. I mean, honestly, how can you push someone to such a limit and yet not going after her for something?" Lavender argued back.

Erik was silent.

"Just imagine what would it be like, to own the entire opera house," Lavender said dreamily.

"All the people would have to listen to you. And all those operas which you wrote, Erik, all those operas which you wrote and ignored would be able to be cast. And with you for a composer, the Opera Populaire would be famous!" Lavender said with a bit of a grin on her face.

"And you will be famous, Erik, famous. No one would be chasing after you, sharpening their pitch forks and yelling insults….." Lavender ranted on sleepily, until she finally fell asleep. Erik, who had being sitting at the organ, was listening to the girl's rambling. He turned around to find her asleep. Smiling, he gently carried her to her room, laid her down on her bed and covered her so that she would not catch a cold.

He went out. Yes, what a pleasure it would be to own the entire opera house, he thought to himself. What if Meg was right about the will thing? As long as Erik knew, they were still in the dark about the entire business.


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter 70 (Masquerade)

Lavender awaked next morning to find Erik gone with a note saying that he would be right back. She decided to visit box five for a while, only to find a note and two bunny rabbits. Taking the bunny rabbits and the note in one hand, she returned back down to the lair and set them on the chair. Turning her attention away from the rabbits, she picked a score of music on the organ and started to play. A sudden bump of the gondola touching the shore told her that Erik was back. She hopped off the organ bench to find him smiling at her as a form of greeting.

"Want to hear some good news?" he asked

"Yeah, what is it?" Lavender asked eagerly.

"They are having a masquerade ball next week," Erik said softly.

"What is a masquerade?" Lavender asked, puzzled.

"A masquerade is a party during which people wear masks. There will be a lot of singing and dancing," Erik said, gently brushing a strand of dark hair from Lavender's face.

"So?" Lavender asked.

"So it would be a lot of fun."

"So?"

"So it would be worth attending."

"So?"

"So if you do not stop asking 'so' I am going to Punjab you."

"So?"

"I am going to take my little friend!"

"So?"

"So what!?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"What are YOU talking about?"

"What are YOU talking about?"

"Stop it, it is really immature!"

"What is really immature?"

Erik forced himself to take a deep breath before continuing.

"What is wrong with you today?" he asked angrily.

"Oh, nothing, except that a bunch of freaks told me to give you this," Lavender said, pointing to a chair where two bunny rabbits were perched on.

"What is going on?" Erik asked, eyeing the two fouls.

"According to them, the bunny rabbit that I gave to them err… gave birth to another bunny rabbit. So, you see, there are two of them now," Lavender said nervously, fingering with her dress.

"For your information, bunny rabbits reproduce only when there are two of them of the different gender and that a baby bunny rabbit don't grow into an adult in two days," Erik said, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright, alright, fine, fine. They are playing back, okay? They have decided to take upon err…… actions, and that they bought another rabbit to give us. They warned us that in the future, what ever number of the bunny rabbits sent to them would be duplicated, and given back," Lavender said, growing red.

"Right, you are going to get rid of them, understand? I can't have rabbits hopping around my home, nibbling holes here and there. Get rid of them," Erik said shortly.

Lavender scowled.

"Fine, fine, Mr. Grumpy, I am going to get rid of them this minute," she said, before swinging her cloak on and picking up the two bunnies in her arms.

Once gotten out of the cave, Lavender was faced with a new dilemma. Where should she leave the rabbits? She would have gladly kept one but Erik would not allow. So what should she do now?

After a few minutes of thinking, she decided. Scooping up the rabbits, she raced through the tunnels towards the ballet girls' dormitories. On reaching the one way mirror, she carefully made sure that there was no one in there. Lavender opened the mirror, and placed one bunny rabbit down on the floor. Next, she ran to the patron's office and placed another one on the good patron's desk. Giggling, she ran back to the lair.

"Ah, good, you are home. I was wondering what took you so long," Erik said, still a little pissed.

"So what were you talking about this masquerade thing?" Lavender asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"I told you before you were annoying me with the same question non-stop…….."

"I was not being annoying!"

"….and that you were not at all listening to me at all!"

Lavender glared at her brother, who seemed like he was trying to keep back a grin. Erik explained the whole thing to her again.

"So what are you suggesting?" Lavender asked her arms akimbo.

"I was suggesting that you go, you know? Go out that, and make some friends, instead of just being stuck in here with me," Erik said.

"And what about you?" Lavender asked.

"I will go too, but just making a more grand appearance, like the last one," Erik said, shrugging.

"So you are bringing them another opera?" Lavender groaned.

"Yes, I can work faster than you," Erik snapped.

"Oh, sounds good, but can I make the 'grand appearance' with you as well?" Lavender asked, her eyes growing bigger.

"No, it is only for the grown men. You are only a wimpy little….." Erik let his voice trailed off.

"Did you just call me a wimp?" Lavender asked, her voice suddenly growing louder.

"Yeah, kind of," Erik grinned, an evil grin.

"AHHHH! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Lavender wiped out (to Erik's surprise and horror) a Punjab lasso from her cloak. She attempted to throw it around Erik's neck. The Punjab Lasso sailed across the shore, but Erik stepped away just in time to avoid being hooked.

"Ha-ha, missed!" Erik sneered, a wrong move. Lavender's second throw was successful; it landed right around Erik's neck. The grin slipped off Erik's face as the rope tightened.

"STOP. CALLING. ME. A. WIMP!!" Lavender snarled, trying to throttle Erik, which was not as easy as she was small and he was quite muscular. However, Erik was fast turning blue.

"Order your fine horses now! Keep your hands at the level of your eyes!" Lavender sneered, while Erik struggled to throw the rope off from his neck.

From nowhere, Erik produced a small knife. He droved the knife deep into the rope, which snapped. Lavender looked shocked.

Erik turned around and glared at Lavender. She could not see that there was a red ring around his neck where the rope had cut into him.

"I see you are fast becoming another phantom," Erik said, after massaging his neck for a few seconds.

"Oh yeah?" Lavender said, trying to keep the sneer in her voice, which failed.

"Yeah, but just remember, throwing the lasso in a shorter distance is better," Erik growled.

Everything was a blur to Lavender, as she could only make out that Erik had reached into his pocket and pulled out his own lasso. Her hands flew to the level of her eyes, and caught the Punjab Lasso neatly around her neck and elbow. Without much effort, she managed to throw off the lasso swiftly.

"Wow, you can play, can't you?" Erik asked, with a bit of amazement in his voice.

"So?" Lavender asked, trying to make her as tall as possible.

"Oh no, stop playing that 'so?' game with me again," Erik sighed.

That night, the two of them worked on Lavender's voice as she began practicing on a new piece of music.

"You need to breathe, Lavender," Erik said after an hour or so. By bed time, Lavender was able to sing quite well.

"So, about the masquerade, are you attending?" Erik asked, as Lavender slipped into her bed.

"I don't know. I mean, they would recognize me, would they not?" Lavender said, pulling the warm blankets over her body.

"Yeah, but you are girl, see?" Erik said, sitting right down next to Lavender.

"I know, but I look a lot like you. I mean, they would recognize the eye color, won't they? And not many people have green eyes," Lavender yawned. Erik smiled, before standing up and switching off the lights.

"Good night, wimp."

"I. AM. NOT. A. WIMP!?!"


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter 71 (The actual masquerade)

The masquerade was approaching. Lavender had not really wanted to go, but Erik had made the necessary arrangements for her. He had ordered a new dress for her and bought his own.

"How many times must I tell you that I am NOT going to the party?" Lavender snapped.

"No, you are going, alright?" Erik sighed, growing irritated.

The night for the masquerade, Lavender put on her dress, did her hair and stepped out of her dressing room.

"You look great," Erik said, pleased.

Lavender was accompanied by Erik to the surface, where he bade her goodbye.

Lavender stepped out of the secret tunnel and arrived at the outside of the ballroom. Already, faint snatches of songs could be heard.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go join the party!" a harsh voice spoke up to her right.

Lavender screamed, and spun around. There was Erik, peering through another one way mirror.

"What on earth is your bloody problem, scaring the day-light out of me!?" Lavender hissed.

"I just wanted to see that you have gone INTO the party instead of just standing OUTSIDE the party," Erik growled.

"Can I just take my time?" Lavender replied.

Just then, a young man, no older than 16 approached Lavender.

"Can I ask your hand in the dance?" he asked politely. Lavender took in his look. He was rather handsome, with large blue eyes and dark blonde hair combed neatly at the back of his head. He was wearing no doubt a suit of expensive material, with a light gold chain hung proudly from his pocket.

Lavender shot a frightened look at the mirror where Erik had came from, but Erik had disappeared. Lavender swallowed, and then turned to the youth.

"Em, okay," she said, faking a smile.

They walked into the ballroom. There were several couples there, dressed exotically.

"May I ask what your name is?" the youth asked, his tone gentle.

"Yeah, Lavender, Lavender…" Lavender hesitated. Should she tell him her real family name?

"Lavender Mavin," Lavender said firmly. Lame, she thought.

"Nice name, I am Alan," the youth, Alan said.

"Want to dance?" Alan asked, smiling at Lavender.

"Em, okay," Lavender swallowed again.

Alan proved to be an expert dancer, as he pranced around the dance room.

"Come on, join the party!" he laughed, holding on to Lavender's hand.

"Em, okay," Lavender gagged. Inside, she hated herself for saying the same thing 3 times.

They danced to the music, before Alan led Lavender out to the balcony.

"Is your mother here with you?" Alan asked, leaning forward to take Lavender's hand again.

"No, she died, when I was two, with my father," Lavender said.

"Oh dear, I am sorry to hear that," Alan apologized. In his tone, he did sound sorry.

"Yeah, you know, life is hard for me and my elder brother. He had to work pretty hard," Lavender lied.

"You live with your brother?" Alan's tone changed, into more of an excited tone.

"Yeah, he is caring, really," Lavender said softly.

"I have always wanted an elder brother, you know, one who can stand for me in case of trouble," Alan sighed, fingering around with his coat.

"So you are the only child?" Lavender asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Yeah, that's why dad often forces me, pushing me to the limit. I have little freedom. It was until my uncle died, and my dad just sort of kept to himself these days," Alan whispered.

"Great, no, I mean, bad. Shall we go back to the party?" Lavender asked, as goosebumps started popping on her skin. God knows what happens after this.

They went back. The crowd was singing a new song now.

"_Masquerade!  
Paper faces on parade . . .  
Masquerade!  
Hide your face,  
so the world will  
never find you!_

_  
Masquerade!  
Every face a different shade . . .  
Masquerade!  
Look around -  
there's another  
mask behind you!_

_  
Flash of mauve . . .  
Splash of puce . . .  
Fool and king . . .  
Ghoul and goose . . .  
Green and black . . .  
Queen and priest . . .  
Trace of rouge . . .  
Face of beast . . .  
Faces . . .  
Take your turn, take a ride  
on the merry-go-round . . .  
in an inhuman race . . .  
Eye of gold . . .  
Thigh of blue . . .  
True is false . . .  
Who is who . . .?  
Curl of lip . . .  
Swirl of gown . . .  
Ace of hearts . . .  
Face of clown . . .  
Faces . . ._

_  
Drink it in, drink it up,  
till you've drowned  
in the light . . .  
in the sound . . .  
But who can name the face . . .?_

_  
ALL  
Masquerade!  
Grinning yellows,  
spinning reds . . .  
Masquerade!_

_  
Take your fill -  
let the spectacle  
astound you!  
Masquerade!_

_  
Burning glances,  
turning heads . . .  
Masquerade!  
Stop and stare  
at the sea of smiles  
around you!  
Masquerade!_

_  
Seething shadows  
breathing lies . . .  
Masquerade!  
You can fool  
any friend who  
ever knew you!  
Masquerade!_

_  
Leering satyrs,  
peering eyes . . .  
Masquerade!  
Run and hide -  
but a face will  
still pursue you!_

Masquerade!  
Paper faces on parade!  
Masquerade!  
Hide your face,  
so the world will  
never find you!  
Masquerade!

_  
Every face a different shade!  
Masquerade!  
Look around -  
There's another  
mask behind you!  
Masquerade!  
Burning glances,_

_  
turning heads . . .  
Masquerade!  
Stop and stare  
at the sea of smiles  
around you!  
Masquerade!_

_  
Grinning yellows,  
spinning reds . . .  
Masquerade!  
Take your fill -  
let the spectacle  
astound you_

Joining in the crowd, Lavender nervously danced with the crowd, trying not to look too out.

_Masquerade!  
Grinning yellows,  
spinning reds . . .  
Masquerade!  
Take your fill -  
let the spectacle  
astound you_

It was then when all the lights in the ball room was blown out, there was a frightening silence.

So much for Erik's 'grand appearance', Lavender thought as she took a glance at the center of the ballroom. There was ring, a large ring, enough for ten people to stand on. It suddenly emitted a tall wall of fire. The crowd gasped. When the flames lowered, it showed a man, Erik.

He was wearing, as Lavender saw it now a handsome suit of dark blue, with a black mask on his face. It was a unique mask, for instead of pure black, there was a single red outline of a rose. It did not cover his whole face. Instead, it wore it like his usual white one, showing the left side of his face. The mask seemed to be illuminated in the presence of fire.

"My dear managers, I have not intended to spoil the party. But you have not being following my orders. I am going to give you one last chance. Three months later the critic is coming for inspection. I would really appreciate if you were to change a new opera instead of the old, tiresome operas which some audiences could remember by heart now. Thus, I have brought you an opera that I wrote," Erik said coldly, flinging a folio out from the ring of fire. It landed, right smack on Monsieur Andre's head. Wincing, Andre picked it up.

"I would be delighted if Carlotta were to be included outside of the opera. Please don't let her sing for the diva, the critic's precious glass of Paris 1800 would shatter, so as the other glass in this opera house," Erik sneered, glaring at Carlotta, who was trying to hide behind a pillar.

"Every piece of the orchestra scores would be included in that folio. If I find that anything had being changed, you will find yourself facing the deepest fear of your life," Erik finished.

"YOU!" a loud and angry voice shouted from the crowd. Everyone looked up to find the patron, hurtling down the stair with a sword in his hand.

"Ah, a competence, I see. Well, if you insist," Erik said calmly. He pulled his own sword from its sheath. The ring of fire between then died away, with Erik not even moving a muscle. Lavender gasped.

Both men circled each other with an air of menace. Philippe's eyes dancing with flame, Erik's still filled with an air of master. Then both attacked at the same time.

Philippe proved to be no poorer sword fighter than Erik, as their swords met each other with fury, sparks emitting from the force of the compact. Erik was loosing, as Lavender could feel the fatigue enveloping his body. Lavender felt that she had to help. She had brought her own sword along with her, for no reason, but now, she pulled it out from its sheath and advanced.

The crowd gasped, as they watched the young girl dashed forward, just as Philippe thrown Erik down onto the ground.

"Now, you will die. My brother had not managed to kill you, but now I shall," Philippe spat. Erik returned his glare without fear.

Philippe lifted his sword, getting ready to drive the weapon into Erik's heart, when his sword was thrown out of his hands by Lavender. Yelling in surprise, Philippe back away from Erik.

"Never thought that I have a helper, did you?" Erik snarled. Lavender's eyes swept through the crowd, her eyes found Alan, whose face was contorted in horror.

Philippe was quick, he scrambled up and picked his sword up from the ground.

"Very well, a girl. I will fight you," he growled. He dashed at Lavender his sword held ready.

Lavender was ready. She dodged, but Philippe advanced again. They dueled furiously, swords clanging and sparks flying. Erik watched on helplessly as Lavender fought, his sword was gone, flung out of his hand by Philippe.

It was good thing that Lavender was flexible, as she dodged several dangerous thrusts. She was spurred on by the anger pounding in her veins, of thirst for revenge.

However, after a few more minutes, Lavender began to feel exhausted. I must break up for the fight! She thought desperately. Then, an idea came into her mind, the same one she used on Raoul.

"Look! What's behind you?!?" she screamed all of a sudden. As expected, Philippe turned behind, giving her the chance to stab him, but she did not. This was when Erik grabbed her and the two of them sprinted towards where Erik had come from.

It was then when Philippe charged at them again, furious at being tricked, but the siblings were engulfed in the ring of flame and when it cleared, they had disappeared.


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter 72 (dilemma)

Erik kept a firm hold on Lavender's hand as they sprinted through the dark tunnels, afraid that Philippe would follow them. However, when they reached the lair, Lavender collapsed in exhaustion and relief.

"I must give you my most sincere and grateful thanks, I owed you my life," Erik said after awhile.

"Never mind, but the main trouble is that the whole opera house knows what we look like now," Lavender gasped, still trying to catch her breath. Erik got her a mug of water and patting her on the shoulder.

"What you did was really brave. Philippe de Chaney is a really good fighter, not many people can stand up to him," Erik said kindly. Lavender smiled.

"Let's get you to bed. You have enough for today, my little phantom," Erik chuckled, as he scooped Lavender into his arms and placed her on her bed.

Philippe de Chaney paced to and fro in his grand mansion.

"She is the phantom's little sister," he muttered. Alan, who was sitting on the sofa, spoke up.

"What make you think as that?" he asked.

Philippe spun around.

"She looks like some duplicated version of him. When I was fighting him and his little girl, I found myself looking into the same pair of eyes," Philippe said agitatedly.

"But that does not mean that they are siblings?" Alan snapped.

"Are you protecting them? They do not deserve to be protected! And you know what? I am seeking revenge!" Philippe snarled, slamming his fist down on the table.

Alan sighed, picked up a book and started to read.


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter 73 (more bunnies)

Lavender slept well that night, so well that she had forgotten about the bunnies. However, Erik prowled around the opera house.

"Hey! Get that bunny out of here at once!" a voice to his left shrieked.

Oh great, the ballet rats had caught themselves up with some bunnies again, Erik thought heavily. Suddenly, it struck something familiar in Erik's mind.

"Listen to me, and answer my questions. Where did you get the bunny from?" Erik growled loudly, loud enough for the ballerinas to hear.

All was silence, and then a brave ballet girl spoke up.

"W-we f-f-f-found i-i-it on t-t-t-the f-f-floor be-be-before th-the ma-masquerade," she stuttered.

Erik cringed. So that was why Lavender came home so late that night. She had deposited the bunnies all around the opera house! He dashed to the manager's office. There, kept in a cage was another bunny.

Erik cursed under his breath and stomped back to the lair.

"What did you do to those bunny rabbits?" he snarled as he turned on the lights in Lavender's room.

"Wha-?" Lavender yawned sleepily.

"Did you put them around the house again?" Erik growled.

Lavender was grinning now.

"So what if I did?" she asked, smirking.

"I told you to get rid of them, not abandoning them around the place and getting 4 bunny rabbits now!" Erik said angrily.

"I want to keep them, but you disallow! What can I do? Kill them? Turn them into bunny skin handbags and boots?" Lavender snapped.

"You can at least give them to some more trusting people," Erik pointed out.

"Like who? I thought the ballet girls adore them, so I gave one, the new one to them and the old one which I store from the manager's office back to where it came from," Lavender hissed.

Erik slumped down on her bed, fingering around with his cape.

"I am not going to have bunnies jumping around my lair, I cannot!" he muttered non-stop, and Lavender heard him.

"Never mind, as long as they keep playing with us, I will keep it up with them," she said comfortably.

"Like?" Erik asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know, like chucking them across the table during breakfast in the canteen and dropping them on the audience's head when they are watching an opera," Lavender said, shrugging.

"No, I will not permit you to drop it on the audience's head during an opera. It is too serious a joke to play, but for during breakfast, yes," Erik said.

The managers kept their word. The next day when they went to box five, there sat four bunny rabbits, nibbling on a carrot each. Erik picked them up and Lavender chucked them across the hall during the breakfast through a secret tunnel behind a painting.

There were screaming as the bunny rabbits landed right smack on places where they should not be. But the next day, eight bunny rabbits had appeared at box five. Again, Lavender chucked them across the meal table during breakfast.

"IT'S RAINING RABBITS!" one of the ballet rats screamed.

Lavender giggled, and then turned around to find Erik's face inches away from her own.

"What do you want now?" she asked impatiently.

"Oh, nothing, just looking around to see if you are doing alright, hey, can you spare me one of your bunnies?" Erik asked.

"Why?" Lavender asked nervously.

"Going to do something," Erik said with a wink. Lavender doubtfully handed him one of the remaining three bunnies. Erik carefully took it in his hands and sprint off with it.

Erik dashed off and turned a corner with the rabbit chewing a hole in his cloak.

"Hey, stop that," Erik snapped, patting the bunny's head. The rabbit stared at him with its bright red eyes. Erik sighed, and continued.

He had wanted to bunny for a present. Too bad bunnies chew too much, if not it would have made a lovely present for a new would-be-diva, he thought. There was a new girl admitted yesterday, and Erik had heard her sing. She was good, but not without a few lessons with him.

He had brought along a blood red rose tied with a black ribbon, a note, and the bunny.

He tied the rose to the collar of the bunny so that it would not chew and destroy the rose. He did the same with the note. When all was clear, he carefully stepped through the one-way mirror in the girl's dressing room and left the bunny on the table.

The new girl's name was Hailey, he knew. She was pretty, almost like Christine, but was more matured. Could it be the start again? Erik thought sadly, his right hand gripping his left, where the ring still stayed on his finger. It seemed determined to stay, to not succumber to the betrayal of love.

With his job done, Erik raced back to where Lavender was still hurling rabbits after rabbits through a hole in the painting out to the crowd.

To his surprise, he found Lavender there, asleep, with a bunny under her head, which was also sleeping. He smiled, and shook Lavender awake.

"What happened?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes. Her eyes fell on the one remaining bunny, which was looking up at her with cute, adorable eyes.

"Oh, you are still here?" Lavender said, a bit surprised. She lifted the bunny up and chucked it through the hole. Erik looked. The hole was right close to ground and the bunnies had no danger during the fall. All of them had scattered, possibly collected by the managers.

"Where have you being?" Lavender asked, turning to Erik.

"Well, going off to drop the bunny off," Erik said, in a would-be-casual voice.

Lavender yawned.

"Can we go back? I want to write an opera," she said sleepily. Erik stared at her. She spoke about writing an opera as though saying 'let's go pick flowers'.

"Are you sure? Remember the last time you wrote the opera?" Erik asked, glancing at her.

"Yeah, but the fop is dead, isn't he?" Lavender groaned.

"Yeah, and another came," Erik said bitterly. Still, he led her down to their lair.


End file.
